Not Quite Human - Potter Beyond 3
by BKL8008
Summary: 100 years after the fall of Voldemort,the Wizarding World goes on. In the tradition of Batman Beyond,Old Harry guides the "new Harry". This time,it's a new set of Firsties,and some of them are not quite human. A Werewolf,a Veela,a Sprite,a Centaur, and a few others trying to keep their hybrid heritage concealed! And what is it about little Rigel Malfoy that might start a war!
1. Chapter 1-After the Chocolate Charlotte

The Chocolate Charlotte was perfect.

The dessert resembled a circular fort made of light colored biscuits [cookies], and was filled with multiple layers of sinfully sugary chocolate that decreased in sweetness and grew darker the further one would eat his or her way down into it, until finally arriving at the biscuits that served as a bottom crust. The bottommost layer of chocolate filling was almost black, and devoid of sweetness in its thinness, perfectly complimenting the semisweet layer above it when eaten with a mouthful of sweet crust. And instead of being garnished in strawberries or some such, as was most common, it had been garnished in cored baby pears that seemed magical in their ripeness and freshness.

In fact, the 'magical' dessert _was_ magical.

It had been made by one Magnus Scot Gove VI, or Magnus-Six, as he was often called. The budding young chef was a resident of Godric's Hollow, soon to be eleven years old, highly magical (as he'd just discovered), and currently nursing a bad werewolf bite to his broken right forearm.

"Don't play with the sling," the young man seated next to him reminded him, buffing a bit of powdered sugar from his glasses.

"And don't forget to change the dressing twice a day," the other added, running a hand through his color-shifting hair.

"Oh now, boys, leave him alone," the old lady reprimanded them, waving her wand at the sink full of dishes that were washing themselves. "Poor little Magnus has had a rough night."

"Thank you, Gran," Magnus smiled, almost bursting with anticipation at the reaction his mother would have upon seeing her birthday surprise. "Pity the old man didn't want to come."

"That's just his way," Hannah Longbottom shook her head, "We'll save him a piece, though."

It had been a long night for the four of them. Having been out of eggs, young Magnus had raided Gran Longbottom's hen house, only to be attacked by a rogue werewolf. He'd been rescued by the Aurors Teddy Potter and Artie Weasley, and then promptly taken by Harry Potter to Teddy Lupin for treatment of his bite wound. It had been there, when he'd found out that Harry Potter (over 150 years old by now!) was indeed still alive, and that the Wizard on his Chocolate Frog trading card was really a young man named Henry Griffiths.

But to the rest of the world, Henry _was _Harry Potter – saviour from the days of Voldemort, and allegedly immortal.

At least, that was the illusion created for the world by the _real_ Harry Potter, as the orphaned boy he'd raised carried on his legacy…and legend.

All in all, Magnus found it quite confusing.

The night's adventures had also confirmed Magnus' suspicions that all of the odd things that he'd been seeing of late in the village were indeed real – some of the townsfolk _were_ Witches and Wizards, and _he_ himself was a Wizard, too! It was why he could see the statue of the Potter family in the town square, which was normally disguised as a war memorial. It was why he could see the full interior of Honeyduke's now, having since found a lost bag of their magical candy some weeks before. And the odd coin he'd find on the ground every now and then? A Galleon, Sickle or Knut? It was magical money.

Magnus VI was a Wizard - just like his best friend Daniel Birken, who would soon be coming home for summer holidays from _**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_, where he was a member of Hufflepuff House.

Magnus was sad, however, that his friend's black and yellow hoodie that he'd left him had been destroyed in the werewolf attack.

The sun had been up for a bit as Gran Longbottom made them more coffee, and got some more orange juice for the boy. She was not, genetically, Magnus' Gran, though. He called her that because she'd taken a liking to the boy while trying to gently introduce the Muggleborn boy to the Magical World. That, and the lonely old lady relished having a child about, one to whom she could tell tales of the Final Battle of Hogwarts and the fall of the Dark Lord at the hands of Harry Potter and his friends.

"What's all this?" Magnus Gove V wondered, seeming nonplussed to find Hannah and two strangers in his kitchen with his young son at such an early hour.

The dessert certainly did not surprise him, however, as the whole line of Goves had always been chefs with a tendency to sneak into kitchens and cook clandestinely at midnight. This was a tradition from the late 1990's, when the original Magnus had taken up the habit at the rather bleak boarding school he'd briefly attended before being expelled and sent off to the Escoffier School in France. Magnus I had instilled a love of fine food into all of his descendants, and Magnus V and VI were no exceptions.

"_My_ word! A Chocolate Charlotte!" Magnus V gasped, "Layered?"  
Magnus VI nodded.  
"Fresh lady fingers?"  
Again, the nod. A smile.  
"And the baby pears? Isn't it _early_ for them?"  
A broader smile and a heartier nod.

"It's just like magic!" Magnus VI exclaimed, bouncing in his seat.

His father inspected the confection. He sampled a very small bit of the filling. He inhaled deeply of the scent of chocolate and pears with just a touch of alcohol. "My God, 'tis perfect, son!" He congratulated him. "Hang on, _why_ is your arm broken?" He added, as if this were perfectly normal as well.

It was, in fact, very hard to startle a Gove. Never mind the fact that there were strangers in his kitchen – one with bubblegum pink hair.

"Oh, darling, come and see your present!" Magnus V called to his wife, who appeared in her dressing gown. She, however, _was_ startled.

"HANNAH!" She gasped, dashing back the way she'd come.

Teddy Lupin's hair turned pinker.

Harry Potter, as he preferred to be known, blushed.

Gran laughed.

"Well, who's ready for breakfast?" Magnus V asked. "Oh, and you gents are…?" He added, as if finally noticing them.

"Harry Potter," Harry (Henry) answered, and "Teddy Lupin," Teddy did the same. "Mr. Gove, we have some rather shocking news to convey," Harry added.

"Fellow from the boy's trading card, what? Well, any friends of Hannah's are friends of mine," Magnus V nodded, "But it'll have to wait. Can't have such a discussion on an empty stomach, can we? Oh, _bother_! All the eggs must be in the Charlotte!"

Hannah produced more, as if it were nothing at all for old ladies to go about the village with several dozen eggs in their shawls.

Mrs. Gove was delighted when she returned, dressed.

"They always do something like this for my birthday," she explained, raising an eyebrow at her son, but seeming nonplussed as well.

"Mrs. Gove," Harry explained, after breakfast was done and the Goves watched in wonder as the dishes drifted over to the sink to wash themselves, "We have news for you concerning your son. Normally, this meeting would take place after a Muggleborn magical child has turned eleven proper, and received his _**Hogwarts**_ admissions letter, but in this case, since he was bitten by a werewolf last night and has known of the Magical nature of Godric's Hollow for weeks now…"

"_Hang_ on!" Magnus V cut him off, "Werewolf? Magic? Nonsense! No such things," he scoffed, "Nothing ever happens in Godric's Hollow!"

Teddy Lupin took the opportunity to change form into a great gray wolf. Then he changed back. Blackie the shepherd left the room.

"Mr. Gove," Teddy explained, "Your son Magnus _is_ a Wizard. I cured him last night with Blood Magic after he was bitten by a rogue werewolf while procuring eggs for this creation," he pointed to the Charlotte. "There may be a few side effects, however, and I must follow up with him. While I don't think he'll fully transform upon full moons, he may have cravings for rare red meats and get quite irritable on those nights. Perhaps even grow facial hair!"

"Well of course, beef should always be served rare," Magnus V agreed, as if he'd not even heard the bit about his son being a potential werewolf, "Even if it is British beef!"

"Hogwarts?" Mrs. Gove asked, "But Magnus has been accepted to the _Escoffier_!"

"Mum!" Magnus VI squeaked, as he was prone to do when he was excited, "_Daniel_ goes there! Tha's where he's been! He's a Wizard! And so am _**I**_!"

"Ah! So _that's _where he went. Well, I just don't know about this?" Magnus V shook his head. "Can we afford such a school?" He asked, as if this too were nothing out of the ordinary and that strange men came calling for breakfast to abscond with his son every day.

"If you can afford the _Escoffier,_ you can afford Hogwarts," Teddy assured him, having noted the classic auto parked in the drive.

Mrs. Gove was still eyeing him with suspicion. "Werewolf, you say?"

"Been after the bloody creature for weeks," Hannah snorted. "Made off with my best hen!" She smiled and patted Mrs. Gove's arm. "He'll love Hogwarts, dear. I was in Hufflepuff House, just like his friend, Daniel. They can ride the train together!"

"Train?"

"It leaves Kings Cross at 11 on September first!" Hannah smiled.

"Well, well! _My son,_ the Wizard?" Magnus V wondered, "Now I know how he made this, and with one good arm, no less!" He pointed to the Charlotte. "Pears aren't ready yet!"

"I chilled the cream and ripened the pears!" Magnus VI added. "It was magic!"

"Spontaneous magic," Harry nodded. "That's why he needs to go to school, learn to control it with a wand, and such. Otherwise, he might well blow himself _and_ the village up!"

"Magic wands?" Magnus V asked his wife. "Did you hear that, dear? Our boy is a Wizard!"

Teddy and Harry exchanged looks. "This is _too_ easy," Harry fretted.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gove, being Muggles – not magical, that is – you seem to be taking this quite well?" Teddy wondered.

"My good fellow," Magnus V replied, "The dishes are doing themselves! And Gran couldn't have had two-dozen eggs in her shawl! And the dessert? So perfect? And still cold while sitting out? What other explanation is there, unless we've all gone mad?"

"And the werewolf bite?" Teddy offered shyly.

"Well, you can turn into a wolf, now _can't_ you, my good man?" Mrs. Gove answered. "Just like in the movies! It's just brilliant!"

"Are they Confunded?" Harry asked Hannah.

"No, they're perfectly fine, trust me," Hannah smiled. "Takes a lot to ruffle a Gove."

Teddy then explained all about werewolves, his school, Wizard trading cards, gold Galleons, and all the things that Magnus VI had seen but that his parents hadn't believed. They even made a trip to the statue, where Magnus VI held his father's and mother's hands in turn so that they could see it, too. Then they went to Honeyduke's sometime later, where everyone made quite the fuss over the town's newest little Wizard.

"I'll be damned," Magnus V smiled. "My son, the Wizard!" he repeated.

Magnus VI smiled.

It was going to be a long wait until September!

Whether it was the sausages at breakfast, or the fact that Daniel's owl was lazy, the bird always stayed when he brought a letter to Magnus VI in the morning. Now that Daniel knew that his friend's parents knew, all bets were off. He even sent a few photos from school, taken by his friend Liam Creevey.

Thus began the interminable wait until an owl brought the magical letter, which would confirm Magnus VI's status as having been accepted to Hogwarts. The boy filled his days, however, with visits to the old folks who gathered here and there in the various shoppes about town, and chatted about the old days. All of them took a great interest in Magnus VI, of course, and made a fuss over his wounded arm. They filled his head with tales of werewolves and wonder, and about how Teddy Lupin was a hero who had freed his kind of madness over a century before. The boy soon learned that there were Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins. The Four Houses of Hogwarts, they told him, each with its own traits: bravery, dedication, intelligence, and ambition. Gran Longbottom even gave the boy an early birthday gift – her antique copy of **Hogwarts: A History**, signed by the late Hermione Granger-Weasley herself.

Magnus VI read it in five days, always scanning the skies for an owl.

Daniel himself finally arrived home in Godric's Hollow at the end of June, and the boys had much to discuss. He didn't care about the forgotten hoodie; he was very interested in seeing the V-shaped scar on Magnus VI's arm.

"A _real_ werewolf?" Daniel breathed, "Rescued by Aurors? Did you get converted, then?"

"Not really, Mr. Lupin said I might not be _quite_ human anymore though?" Magnus replied with some wonder. He then explained it all, including his meeting with Harry Potter. He didn't mention the real Harry, the original. Only that the Harry on the cards was real, and that he'd ridden a broomstick with him.

"You met _Harry Potter_? Wicked!" Daniel breathed in wonder. "When your Hogwarts letter comes, we'll take you to Diagon Alley with us to get your school things, Mag! It's just _smashing_! You'll love it!"

And so the two boys ran the village all summer long, getting into trouble and the sorts of minor adventures that only young boys with their dog can do. A few letters from someone named 'Hopkirk' came for Daniel, but all in all, it was a grand summer.

On August 24th, dangerously close to the age cutoff for admissions, Magnus' _**Hogwarts**_ letter came by tawny owl. So did Daniel's, reminding him of his list of school supplies and the schedule to catch the train. The bird even stayed for a bite or two of the red velvet cake that had greeted the boy that morning when he'd gotten up.

"Platform 9 ¾?" Magnus asked. "Is there _really _such a thing?"

"You'll see!" Daniel smiled in reply, as Magnus then got to the serious business of opening his birthday presents.

His favorite, by far, was the black hoodie from Daniel with a large white "H" crest on the front.

The climax of the trip to Diagon Alley was, naturally, finding a wand at the _**Ollivander/Gregorovitch Wand Shoppe**_. Even the wild ride at Gringotts to set up a vault for the family paled in comparison to the mystery of the stacks and stacks of dusty boxes that lined the walls.

"Ever held a wand?" Ollivander asked, a middle-aged man with flyaway hair that reminded Magnus of Albert Einstein. He claimed to be the nephew of the original proprietor.

"Well he's a Muggleborn, now, _isn't_ he?" Gregorovitch argued, his neat appearance making them sort of an odd couple.

"Yes, sir, I have. Mr. Lupin's, I wonder?" Magnus VI replied.

"Mine likes him," Daniel offered, holding out his wand of Scotch pine and unicorn hair.

"August birthday, must be a coniferous tree," Ollivander mused, rummaging through that section as the magical tape measured the boy, "Ah, smells like Christmas in here!"

**BOOM**!  
Magnus had tried a wand of Vinewood that Gregorovitch had offered, but it was clear that it didn't like him.

Mr. Gove raised an eyebrow. Mr. Birken laughed. "You should have been here when Daniel's chose him!"

"Greg only does that because he _likes_ to see the windows blown out!" Ollivander complained. "REPARO!" He waved the wand he'd chosen, and Magnus gasped as the glass reassembled.

"_Chose_ him?" Mrs. Gove asked.

"The _wand_ chooses the _wizard,_ Madame," Ollivander explained.

"Two-dozenth time this week," Gregorovitch laughed, offering up a selection of white pine, yellow pine, various cedars, and even rare imported Bristlecone pine from the United States.

In the end, a wand of Lebanese cedar, ten and a half inches, with a hippogriff feather core, chose Magnus.

"Sturdy but still flexible, excellent for Charms, but touchy," Ollivander explained.

"Better than that nuclear warhead we sold to that part-Veela boy," Gregorovitch added.

"I thought Veelas were all girls?" Daniel asked. "Who was it?"

"Sebastian Fournier, French mother – the Veela, of course," Ollivander supplied. "Moved here just recently, they said."

The boys exchanged a look. "Wha's a Veela?" Magnus VI asked Daniel.

"You'll find out, Mag! Not everyone at Hogwarts is quite human!"

"Are you mad?!" Magnus demanded of his friend, staring at the brick wall before them.

"It's true! Just walk right through it," Hannah advised, having escorted the Goves to Kings Cross.

"Best do it at a run, if you're nervous," an older lady with graying, bushy red hair advised, as her brood of children headed for the wall at full clip.

They vanished into the bricks.

Magnus gasped. His father, who was carefully examining the wall, had declared it quite solid – until he'd seen the children dash through it. All in all, the Goves were taking this magic-thing very well. "I wonder?" Mr. Gove shook his head. "And there's a train back there?" He walked around the pillar with his wife. "Oh, how rude of me!" He then introduced them all to the older lady.

"Rose Malfoy," she introduced herself, "You must be a Muggleborn?" She smiled at Magnus VI, who nodded. "That was my flock of grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. We all got off to a late start in the family business, but we seem to have made up for it." She turned back to Magnus. "Aren't you the boy that Harry and Teddy rescued some weeks ago?"

"Rose?"

"Hannah!" The two old ladies embraced, upon recognizing one another.

"So sorry to hear about your mum," Hannah offered.

"Well, she _was _very old," Rose nodded, smiling weakly.

"And _I'm_ not?" Hannah laughed, turning back to her 'grandson'. "Go on then!"

Magnus nodded, as a small boy came dashing up with his trolley. He had closely cropped hair with hardly a fringe, and it looked as if his DNA couldn't decide if it wanted him to be an albino or a ginger, or something caught in the middle.

"**Rigel** Arthur _Malfoy_!" Rose admonished him.

"I had to _go_!" Rigel protested.

"It's Rigel's first trip to Hogwarts, too," Rose explained. "I swear, he'll be late for his own funeral someday!"

So it was, with Rose's help, that the Goves and Birkens made it onto the platform where they stood in awe of the great scarlet steam engine. "I never will get used to this," Mr. Birken declared. The Goves were suitably awestruck.

"ALL ABOARD!" the conductor was shouting, and children were scampering this way and that, hugging parents goodbye, while owls hooted and cats yowled about being hauled off by porters.

Rigel was thoroughly embarrassed with his Gran's extended goodbye, and Magnus fought back tears at the idea of leaving his parents for the first time.

"Stiff upper lip, son," Magnus V reminded his boy, "And use that expensive owl, won't you? We'll take good care of Blackie. And I certainly hope they feed you well?"

Magnus VI was still sniffling as he followed Daniel to the back of the train.

"Best thing about the back is that you're closer to the car where they keep the snack trolley," Daniel advised. "Only us Hufflepuffs have figured that out, see? And you have a better view, too. All you see is where you've been, so you can wonder what it's like where you're going." He paused. "Trust me, Mag, you'll love it!" Daniel assured him.

They'd just settled into a compartment when the door slid open again.

"Do you mind?" little Rigel Malfoy asked, "Everywhere else is full?"

"Is there room in here?" another boy then stepped up. It sounded like, "Izz zer r-r-rooum en eeer?" in his heavy French accent. He had light blond hair pulled back into a long ponytail, and his face was flawless. He was a full head taller than Rigel, and his dark eyes were avian in nature. Rigel jumped.

"Why don't you lot get acquainted, while I go and find my friends?" Daniel offered, "I've told them all about you!"

Magnus nodded a bit nervously, but he instantly liked the French boy for some reason. He introduced himself as Sebastian Fournier, and Magnus remembered his name from the wand shoppe – he was the one with the "nuclear" wand. Magnus introduced himself as well, as did Rigel Malfoy. Another, one Ewan Scott, a rather nondescript boy from Kent, soon joined them. Ewan was a touch on the plump side with brown hair in need of a trim. He was accompanied by a smaller, very shy (and _very_ ginger) boy who mumbled that his name was Rónán F. Greyson III. Magnus' arm twinged as Rónán sat next to him.

In no time at all, the boys were talking about their new owls and comparing wands, wondering which House they'd be Sorted into. When Daniel returned with some of his friends, most of them in Hufflepuff attire, he introduced Magnus.

FLASH!  
"Thanks, Liam," Daniel laughed.

"Say! Me da' tol' me 'bout you!" A boy with a thick Irish accent said, "You the one what got bit by a werewolf?"

Daniel smacked his arm. "Manners, Ross!"

But Magnus proudly showed them his scar, as only an eleven year old could take such pride in.

Rónán gasped. "Did you, you know? _Change_ yet?" He whispered, wide-eyed.

"Oh, no! Teddy Lupin fixed it, right after!" Magnus assured him. Then he noticed that Rónán had oddly colored eyes and very sharp canine teeth the protruded over his lip, even when his mouth was closed. He touched his scar again.

"You're a _full_ werewolf, aren't you?" Sebastian asked. Magnus' eyebrows went up.

Rónán nodded. "My grandfather was. He grew up at _**White Wolf**_, first class, you know."

"Are you _really_?!" Ross exclaimed. Liam snapped another photo.

"What is it with all the roman numerals after your names?" Daniel laughed.

"No dog jokes, please?" Rónán asked shyly.

"No bird jokes, either," Sebastian added.

"You're a Veela, aren't you?" Rónán returned the favor.

"Half," Sebastian smiled.

"Pretty boy," Rónán sniffed.

"Mangy mutt,' Sebastian retorted, which was oddly hilarious to all of them.

Ewan looked at Rigel. "I feel left out, being _fully_ human, don't you?" He grinned. Rigel just shrugged.

"_I'm _human!" Magnus protested, pulling his sleeve back down and wondering about it.

"I can fix that," Rónán teased him, and from there on out, it looked like the boys were already becoming fast friends.

When the witch with the trolley arrived, they challenged one another to Every Flavor Beans with no flavor guide chart, traded Chocolate Frog Cards, and had a grand time in general before arriving late that night at Hogsmeade Station.

_Perhaps it won't be so bad, going away, after all_? Magnus wondered. _I hope they have a good kitchen staff_?

Having read his history book, Magnus wasn't too awfully surprised to be greeted by a giant of a man at the station. He recognized him as (probably) the grandson of Rubeus Hagrid, the former gamekeeper who had written their text for _Introductory Care of Magical Creatures_ class.

The boat ride across the Black Lake was another matter. Rigel nearly missed the boat, and Ewan got seasick.

They were greeted at the lakeside landing by a man who greatly resembled Rigel, only with much longer hair. He introduced himself as Deputy Headmaster Orion Malfoy, much to his son's chagrin.

"Your Pa-_pa_?" Sebastian grinned.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ewan wondered.

"And it only gets worse," Rigel sighed, as they were led into the Great Hall after a lengthy speech about Houses and rules and points.

Some things never change, Magnus knew, and the Great Hall of Hogwarts was one of them, they told him. It looked just like the moving pictures in his book, but the boy still stared around in wonder at the floating candles beneath the enchanted ceiling, where a nearly full moon shone down upon them. He noticed that Rónán grinned when he saw it.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts for yet another year!" The Headmaster greeted them all. He appeared to be quite old, with a neat beard and long, white hair and bent nose. His blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon spectacles, and he was tall and lanky. The students clapped as Magnus took in the sight of the four long tables. "I have a few words to start us off, and then we'll get to the Sorting and our wondrous feast that the House Elves have waiting for us!"

"Feast?" Magnus smiled, his stomach rumbling in anticipation.

"For our incoming Firsties, let me introduce myself as Headmaster Hugo Weasley. I also respond to 'Huge', 'old man', and 'hey, you'," he joked. There was polite laughter. "And for those who are related to me somehow – which is probably _most_ you – let me remind you that you'll probably have to go all the way to Durmstrang to find a date for the Ball to avoid dating your own cousin!" He waved down the laughter and applause. Magnus found him quite agreeable so far. "AH! The Sorting Hat! Thank you, Professor Malfoy!"

**FLASH!  
**"Thank _you,_ Mr. Creevey," Headmaster Weasley added.

Magnus was instantly fascinated by the old Hat, with all of its stitches and patches and even a few scorch marks. He jumped when it seemed to come life as Professor Malfoy placed it on the stool at the front of the Hall, where it began to sing a little ditty about not being able to choose your relatives and how things seldom go as planned.

It was not without a bit of dread that Magnus realized that they were all going to take turns sitting on the stool and trying on the Hat to see which House they would live in. Daniel hadn't bothered to tell him that part…

Magnus saw his friend sitting at a far table with Liam and Ross, everyone there dressed in black and yellow with crests of badgers on their robes. Daniel waved to him as the first boy, one Aidan Adams, was declared a Slytherin by the Hat. There was much applause as the boy went to the far table on the other side of the Hall.

"Lot o'them in my family," Rigel whispered. "Guess tha's where I'll end up, tho' Dad was the very _first _Malfoy in Gryffindor."

Magnus didn't know what to think of it as he watched other Firsties that he'd not met on the train go and try on the Hat. The last to go before the letter "G" was a girl named Finnigan (he missed her first name).

"Fournier, Sebastian?" Professor Malfoy said. "Beauxbatons full up?" He asked.

There were whispers and a few giggles from mainly the girls as Sebastian smiled back and took the stool, his blond head disappearing beneath the Hat.

"Hufflepuff!" It declared.

There were many groans of disappointment from the other three Houses as many of the girls at the Hufflepuff table suddenly lost all interest in the Sorting and made way for Sebastian.

"Veelas," Rónán sniffed.

Some girl named "Gaines" went into Ravenclaw.

"Gove, Magnus Scot the Sixth?" Professor Malfoy called. "Really? Sixth? Family run out names and T's, did they?"

Magnus froze. Rigel gave him a shove and wished him luck. Suddenly, Magnus wasn't hungry anymore as the Hat slid down over his head.

"Ah! Amazing!" The Hat spoke inside his mind, "A Muggleborn who's not related to anyone here! _Where _did they find you?"

"Godric's Hollow," Magnus answered.

"Yes, friend of Birken's," the Hat replied, "Well, I think you might be happiest nearest the kitchens, Magnus! Boy with your talents? Down for the _Escoffier_, were we? Perhaps you can teach the Elves a thing or two? I hear their Hotpot is simply dreadful!"

"What?" Magnus wondered, feeling as if ants were crawling around inside of his skull as the Hat got to know him. Daniel hadn't mentioned that, either. He thought he'd be choosing his House based on some test – not by some telepathic Hat! What other surprises had Daniel not mentioned, then?!

"Always nice to see someone who made friends on the train. You missed Daniel awfully, didn't you?" The Hat asked.

Magnus didn't need to answer. For just an instant, it was like reliving that awful few months until he'd adapted to his best friend's absence.

"Friends are very important, aren't they?" The Hat asked. "Well, my boy, there's only _one_ place for you! **HUFFLEPUFF**!" It called out.

And then the Hat was whisked off of his head, and Magnus found himself headed for the Hufflepuff table, where Daniel had stood to applaud and welcome him. He was seated next to Sebastian, much to the evicted girl's chagrin. He saw that his uniform had magically changed to black and yellow, with the "H" being replaced by a badger crest.

Rónán was next, with a G-name as well. The Hat took a while with him before declaring him a Hufflepuff too.

"Tha's three of us!" He exclaimed, missing the next few Sortings as they chattered.

Laddie Lawrence was then declared a Gryffindor.

"Must be a Scottish nickname," Rónán wondered. "'Laddie'?"

"Malfoy, Rigel!"

"Can you imagine, your _dad_ being the Deputy Head?" A girl who introduced herself as Vivienne Gaines whispered to the boys. They all shuddered, watching as a very nervous Rigel took the stool and appeared to be arguing with the Hat.

There also seemed to be a staring match going on between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. Professor Malfoy was looking intense.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hat finally announced, as Rigel handed it back to his stunned father. For a moment, there was quiet. Then everyone applauded politely.

"Bloody thing wanted to put me in _Slytherin_, can you imagine?" Rigel snorted, as he plunked himself down on the other side of Sebastian, nearly sitting in some girl's lap. They were whispering about it, and didn't pay much attention until "Scott, Ewan!" was announced.

The Hat didn't hesitate at all – "Hufflepuff!"

"Going to be a bit crowded, isn't it?" Magnus wondered.

"Nahhhhh, the Cellar's huge," Daniel assured him, as he and his friends began telling the boys all about it, thus causing them to miss the rest of the Sorting.

The Sorting finished up with, amazingly, no Weasleys at all. The Headmaster and Deputy both considered that miraculous, as the feast appeared on the tables in a dazzle of Elvish magic.

Everyone was busy tucking in when Magnus noticed a problem: the Shepherd's pie needed _something_. There were chicken wings, but without black pepper or hot sauce for dipping. There wasn't even any bleu cheese dressing. The buttered sprouts looked very nice and green, but had a bitter edge and untrimmed stalks on a few. Magnus found the food good, but with _some _room for improvement. For a magical school, he wondered who was in charge of the cooking? _Oh, father just wouldn't have this,_ he observed of the mashed potatoes, upon finding a large lump in them.

But judging from the looks of the children around him, Magnus came to the conclusion that most of them (except perhaps Ewan) must be outright starved at home.

When the dessert course appeared, Magnus had high hopes for the chocolate cake.

"Really?" He grimaced, "_Two _layers?" It was also obvious from the first bite that someone was skimping on the cocoa and sugar, and that the eggs surely hadn't been whipped enough, as the cake was quite heavy. And there were no dark chocolate shavings for garnish? And the cherry dish wasn't on fire? _What kind of pastry chef did Hogwarts employ?!_

He caught Daniel slipping him a sly wink, as if to say, "I expected this!" After all, Daniel was familiar with Magnus' talents in a kitchen.

"Was this what you meant when you said it gets worse?" Magnus asked of Rigel.

Rigel shook his head, chocolate on his pointed face. It made Magnus think of a ferret, as he noted that Rónán didn't touch the chocolate cake.

"The Head's our great-something-uncle," a girl from the Ravenclaw table informed them.

"Oh, stow it, Helene!" Rigel snapped at her, and Magnus recognized her from Platform 9 ¾. "My sister," Rigel groaned. "Thinks she's so smart 'cause she's a Raven_cow_!"

"Beats being a _mole_," Helene grinned sweetly at him. "What _will_ Grandfather Scorpius say? The first Malfoy in _Hufflepuff_?"

"He'll say that _you_ need to leave that chocolate cake alone?" Rigel retorted, and Helene's face turned a wonderful shade of Weasley magenta.

"The Weasley metabolic gene missed _her_," Rigel added insult to injury. "They named me after a star, and her after a moon of Saturn. Of course, Saturn _is _the _largest_ planetary body in the solar system!" He added. Helene glared at him.

"Oh, _now _Helene, you _know_ how little brothers are," Sebastian batted his eyes at her, turning up his French accent. "Cut the poor boy some slack, won't you?"

"Don't you pull that Veela stuff on _me_, Frenchie!" Helene Malfoy warned him. "My uncle Louis is part Veela, you know. I know all about _you _lot!"

Sebastian looked stunned.

Magnus was still glaring at the half-eaten cake as if it had mightily offended him.

Then Headmaster Weasley was making announcements about the forest being out of bounds, banned objects that Caretaker Smith would be happy to discuss, and that any of the many Potter-Weasley-Malfoy offspring would be under "close watch". He then explained the empty seat at the High Table.

"As you might expect, we have an opening for a teacher in Defense Against the Dark Arts," the Headmaster went on. "For this term, we have a special surprise for you all. The Ministry has loaned us their Head Auror to fill in, since Professor Jones has finally grown tired of being blown up!" He gestured to the door.

In walked a man with black hair and green eyes, and Magnus knew him at once.

"Students, may I present the one and only - Harry Potter?"

The cheers and gasps of disbelief were earsplitting, but Magnus smiled. Of all of them, maybe even his own relatives, Magnus knew the truth about Harry Potter.

Harry scanned the tables, caught his eye, and slipped him a wink. Magnus waved to him, and Harry nodded.

"_You_ know him?!" the boys all wondered.

"And now…settle down! Yes, I _know_ it's exciting!" The Head called for order, "But for now, off to bed with you all!"

"I can't win," Rigel sighed, as students began filing out. "_Another _relative!"

Their Prefect, a girl named Marjorie MacMillan, then led them down a flight of stairs and around an abrupt turn that seemed to Magnus to be taking them directly under the Great Hall. She explained to the Firsties that the Hufflepuff chambers, or the _**Cellar**_ as they called it, had indeed once been that – the wine cellar in the early days of Hogwarts. The entrance was guarded by a large painting of a bowl of fruit.

"Stroke the banana, tickle the pear, then squeeze the melons," MacMillan instructed them. Some of the boys snickered.

They emerged into the kitchens, and Magnus gaped.

The kitchens were huge. Several old cast iron stoves lined the walls, and intricately carved wooden cabinets were everywhere. Despite the mess of dishes in the large sinks, the kitchen looked and smelled very clean – a plus in Magnus' book. When he looked up, he could see right up into the Great Hall through the magical ceiling. Enormous worktables ran down the center of the room, and polished copper pots and pans and utensils of all sorts hung along the walls.

"This place has got potential!" Magnus breathed.

"Told you you'd love it!" Daniel whispered in his ear, pointing to a large round door at the far end.

"We live in a kitchen?" Ewan asked in awe, as the Elves all gathered around them, making sure that everyone had had enough to eat, and offering leftovers to take for midnight snacks.

"Thank Merlin that Helene isn't here," Rigel laughed.

"It's absolutely _brilliant_!" Magnus said aloud, which got him into the Elves' good graces at once.

Then he yawned.

"Methinks is being time for someone to be's in bed!" An old Elf patted his arm.

*  
Once they were settled into their dormitory, and Magnus had found his steamer trunk at the foot of the bed nearest the circular door, he immediately got into his pyjamas and began composing a letter:

"**Dear Mum & Dad – you wouldn't believe the state of the kitchen here! The possibilities are endless! The food's good so far, but there's certainly room for improvement!"**

"You really think you can out-cook a House Elf?" Rigel asked, leaning in. "Sorry, you were reading out loud."

"Was I?" Magnus wondered, mulling it over. He then told them about the Chocolate Charlotte.

"That much chocolate would _kill_ me, even in human form," Rónán advised.

"And you don't want to give a Veela chocolate," Sebastian added with a shudder. "I've already got enough girl-problems without that!"

"I don't think we're allowed alcohol," Rigel shook his head.

"Well, you'll have to get someone to taste it first, won't you?" Ewan smiled.

"Have you met my sister?" Rigel laughed.

"Yes, and he's met your great-something-Uncle!" Sebastian cut in. "How do you know _Harry Potter_?"

And so Magnus was obliged to tell them the _whole _egg story and how he'd been bitten and hopefully cured. The boys, with the exception of Rónán, seemed awed.

"Bloody MacLeods," Rónán then sniffed. "Grandfather said the first one was a good kid, but his brood kinda went off the rails, you know."

"So getting back to this cooking thing?" Ewan reminded them.

"You think the Elves would take a challenge?" Magnus grinned.

"They can't _refuse_ one," Rigel smiled, "And from what my cousins told me, they'll be _expecting_ midnight feasters!"

"Looks like a showdown in the kitchen's coming then!" Magnus stated.

**Character review**:

**Sebastian Fournier** – French ½ Veela

**Magnus Gove** – Muggleborn 'potential' part-werewolf

**Rónán Greyson** – 3rd generation pure werewolf

**Rigel Malfoy** – grandson of Scorpius and Rose, sister of Helene (think Tom Felton from the film "The Borrowers")

**Helene Malfoy** – Rigel's sister. Ravenclaw

**Ewan Scott** – plump boy from Kent, based on Oberoi from the movie "A Feast at Midnight". Related to the Scotts mentioned in TLNM2, cousin of Roddy the Ravenclaw.

**Vivienne Gaines** – Ravenclaw girl

**Laddie Lawrence** – Gryffindor boy

**Liam Creevey **– Hufflepuff 2nd

**Daniel Birken** – Hufflepuff 2nd

**Ross ?** – Hufflepuff 2nd


	2. Chapter 2-First Day Badger Blues

First Day Badger Blues

**Sometimes it's not so easy when you're not **_**quite**_** Human!**

Magnus' learning experiences about the Magical World increased very much that next morning, and the boys hadn't even yet gotten out of their dormitory! Or beds…

It was the smell of many different things cooking that awakened Magnus. As he yawned and stretched, absently scratching at the V-shaped scar on his forearm, his bed curtains slid open automatically. He sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes, excited when he realized that he was indeed at Hogwarts and it wasn't a dream! And he had slept very well, indeed – which was highly unusual for a Gove. Having already peeked at his Spellbook, he wondered if his pillow might not be Charmed or something? That, or the fact that his bed seemed to be of very high quality.

But it was his _first day_ of classes at Hogwarts! Could there possibly be anything more exciting? He had to ask Daniel as soon as he saw him. After all, Daniel was a Second Year now, Magnus thought, and no doubt knew a great many things. Magnus was up at once, searching for his slippers, when he realized that he had no idea where the bathroom was. This, he thought, could prove to be a crisis – and _very_ soon indeed!

The next one up was Ewan, and Magnus wasn't surprised that the plump boy from Kent would have been the next logical choice to be awakened by the smell of food. Rigel Malfoy then stuck his faintly ginger head out from his curtains.

"Right then, who's going to drag the mutt out of his den?" Rigel grinned.

"Not me," Sebastian answered, his curtains sliding open as he rubbed his eyes and blinked several times. Magnus and Ewan both gasped. Sebastian's large eyes were black, and the pupils, which they could hardly discern from the irises, were going in the wrong direction – almost like a bird's would. Magnus thought the light-complected boy looked quite like an alien "Gray" from popular fiction. Then he remembered that Sebastian was part Veela...whatever _that_ was?

"Your Veela is showing," Rigel reminded him politely, as if on queue, and Sebastian's eyes shifted back to a human appearance at once. Magnus was fascinated, but he was far too mannerly of a boy to ask his new friend about it. He made a mental note to look it up later in the Library, which he could hardly wait to visit and see if there were any Magically-oriented cookbooks there.

"Rigel, what happened to your _hair_?" Sebastian looked astounded, as he got up and stretched. He shook his head a few times, and his own long blond hair just seemed to fall into place.

"You look like a girl!" Rigel laughed at him.

Magnus and Ewan both snickered as Rigel's eyes went wide and his hand then shot to his head, which was now adorned with a very bushy pale-ginger mop of wild hair that could best be described as a runaway afro.

"Oh, bollocks!" Rigel snorted, grabbing up his wand from the nightstand and passing it over his head. His hair retracted at once into a severe crew cut with a short fringe. "Got that from Gran Hermione," he explained. "Sometimes it just comes back by itself, no matter how much you cut it. She…she passed on this last summer," Rigel added.

"Gran told me," Magnus offered kindly, "Well, Hannah Longbottom, that is. I'm sorry."

"Well, she _was_ very old," Rigel nodded. Then he closed his eyes, sniffled once, and his hair immediately fluffed back out. "Thanks, mate. Maybe I'll keep it today, on second thought. Now, the question is – how do we get Rónán out of bed?"

"I don't understand?" Ewan asked.

"He's a werewolf, remember?" Sebastian reminded them, "and wolves don't like being hauled out of a nice, warm den when they're sleeping. That, and the full moon is in a few days. He's probably resting up. Part of the Werewolf Cycle."

"Right! But they don't go mad anymore, _do_ they?" Magnus asked. "I read about it in…"

"If you say **Hogwarts: A History**," Rigel warned him in a pompous tone, "I shall have to bludgeon you to death with your very own revised copy! Gran and Mum used to use it on me for bedtime stories!"

"You poor thing," Sebastian nodded seriously. The he grinned.

They all had a good laugh at that, then carefully moved towards Rónán's bed.

"Breakfast," Ewan offered tentatively. His reply was a soft growl.

"Anyone speak 'wolf'?" Sebastian asked.

"Why are you all looking at _me_?" Magnus wondered.

"Well, you're the closest thing we've got to another canine," Rigel reminded him with a smirk.

"But _I'm_ cured?" Magnus replied. "I'm _not_ a werewolf?"

"_Yet_," Rónán muttered. "I'm up, I'm _up_. Merlin's _socks_, wha's the rush?" Then he sniffed the air, they heard, and his curtains slid open.

"And you thought _I _had problems," Sebastian snickered.

"You were saying about _my_ hair?" Rigel added with a smirk.

Rónán was lying on his stomach, stretching. The problem was, that at some time during the night, the little boy had obviously changed form and "fallen out" of his pyjamas. He was naked, and he had a full furry tail which seemed to be moving of its own volition. When he looked up at them with a great yawn, they could see that his eyes were golden and his teeth were very sharp. His ears were also canine, sticking up like a guard dog's ears at attention.

"What do you call those Anime cartoon characters with tails and ears?" Ewan wondered.

Rónán seemed unaffected by this observation of his appearance.

"It happens sometimes, you change in your sleep," he shrugged, grabbing up his dressing gown. "One of the side effects of that Animous Potion that Uncle Teddy came up with when he was a Firstie." He looked at Sebastian. "You know?"

"Beats wetting the bed," Ewan conceded.

"Yeah," Sebastian nodded, looking nervous. "Th-thanks for not going all mental on me," he added. "Last time I slipped, I scared some poor Muggle kid on a tower tour so bad he wet himself!"

"The _Eiffel_ Tower?" Magnus asked. "I've always wanted to see that!"

Sebastian shrugged. "It's in my back yard. Gets boring after a while, but heights sort of make me get, you know…"

"All dreamy and 'birdy'?" Rigel laughed. "You gonna do something with that tail?" He then asked Rónán.

"You gonna do something with that _hair_?" Rónán countered, as his eyes and teeth shifted back to normal. "You got enough there to make a whole'nother puppy!"

"Do you feel incredibly ordinary?" Ewan asked Magnus.

"Teddy Lupin is your uncle?" Magnus wondered.

"Mrs. Longbottom is your gran?" Rigel replied.

"She's adopted," Magnus explained. "She lives nearby!"

"Teddy's _everyone's_ uncle, where I come from," Rónán explained.

They then went in search of the bath, not because they wanted to, but because they knew that they had a girl for a Prefect and that she'd probably inspect them before letting them out of the Cellar! They found it, used it, and were mercifully released by Miss MacMillan to head up to breakfast.

"GREYSON!" She called after them as they fled, noticing that Rónán still had a furry tail sticking out the back of his robes!

"You is knocking three times on the table, if you needs anything," one of the House Elves told them on their way through the kitchen. "We knows you has some special diets, yes!"

Magnus glanced at the many stoves, where a plethora of breakfast foods was cooking. He sniffed a large pan of eggs and tossed in a pinch of spice when the Elves weren't looking.

"What did he mean by diet?" Ewan asked nervously, as they emerged onto the ground floor and ran into a couple of Slytherins, both of whom stopped in their tracks.

"What the hell is wrong with your _ears, _'Puff-boy?" Aidan Adams blurted.

"Ooops," Rónán mumbled, grinning, and feeling at his ears. "Knew I forgot _something_."

"EE's got a bloomin' _tail_, too!" The other boy gasped.

"Honestly, don't you know a malfunctioning werewolf when you see one? Just toss him a dog treat," A Slytherin girl asked, as she and her friends passed by. "Malfoy," She greeted Rigel cordially, as she and the girls went on their way, whispering and glancing back with a few giggles.

"Harper," Rigel replied coolly. Then he smacked Sebastian's arm. "Turn it off, Precious," he muttered under his breath at Sebastian. Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Malfunctioning?" Rónán exclaimed. "And I don't _appreciate _dog jokes!"

Adams and his friend were still eyeing Rónán with suspicion, though.

"And you're _proud _of this?" The other boy asked.

"Oh, shove off, Foxhound," Rigel rolled his eyes. "He hasn't been fed yet, and he's a bit cranky!"

"My name's 'Poynter'!" He retorted. "And you look like an embarrassed cotton swab, Malfoy!"

"Pointer? Foxhound? Beagle? What's the difference?" Rigel grinned. "Sounds rather canine to me. You sure you don't have a wolf in your woodpile somewhere?" He brushed his own upper lip. "Bit furry there, what?"

Poynter's hand shot up to his face, feeling at the slight bit of fuzz. "Oh sod off, Malfoy! You'll probably be twenty before _you_ get any!"

"Let's go," Adams offered nervously.

"I don't bite, really," Rónán assured them, as the two Slytherins fled. "Much!" He added. "And I'm housebroken!" He called, as the Slytherins sped up a bit.

"_**Greyson**_!" A man's voice called, and the Hufflepuffs looked up to see Professor Orion Malfoy striding towards them. "Pull in that tail and fix those ears!" He then looked at his son. "Rigel," he nodded. "Sleep well?" He blinked. "Did you forget something?" He pointed at his own neat hair style.

"No, sir," Rigel answered.

"_I _see," Professor Malfoy nodded. "Gran always did like you with big hair. Very well, then. Now, Greyson?"

Rónán was looking aggravated, however. "I…I _can't_, sir! It's stuck!"

"Stuck?" Professor Malfoy gasped. "How can it be _stuck_?"

"He changed in his sleep, Dad-…sir," Rigel corrected himself.

"I read that can happen, sometimes, sir," Magnus offered. "Stress, you know?"

"Yes, I see. Well, you're fully versed, then, Gove?" Professor Malfoy asked him. "Teddy wrote and said _you_ were fine? No signs of infection?"

"What you call 'infection', I call a lifestyle," Rónán smirked, perfectly imitating the reflexive smirk action of both Professor and Rigel Malfoy.

Magnus nodded.

"Oh, and your Uncle Hugo wants to see you this afternoon on free period, son – Rigel…Mr. Malfoy – whatever…" Professor Malfoy added, as Ewan's tummy growled. "Carry on, then," he dismissed them. "Oh, and one point from Hufflepuff," He called back, "For showing off!"

"Brilliant," Rigel snorted. "Thanks, _Dad_!"

"Who's showing off?" Rónán wondered, wagging his tail. "I've got a _problem_ here!"

"Is that why your robe had a slit cut in the back already?" Magnus asked. "Just in case?"

Suddenly it was all very funny, and the boys were still grinning about it as they tucked in to breakfast. The large hourglasses at the front of the hall, however, dropped one yellow jewel. Miss MacMillan noticed it.

"WHO lost a point already?!" She demanded of the boys.

"Why's she lookin' at us?" Rigel asked innocently.

Rónán shifted his ears and gave her his best 'sad puppy' face. It worked. "You use what you got," the boy explained, as MacMillan and her friends made a fuss over his ears.

Magnus noted at once that the scrambled eggs hadn't been whipped nearly enough, and that they were not "dirty", as his father sometimes called them. This meant that bits of meat and assorted vegetables, sometimes brown rice or even cheese, had been cooked into them. Magnus V had found this recipe in an American cookbook, and they loved their scrambled eggs that way. The eggs were pleasantly buttery, however, and passable with the spice he'd covertly tossed in. Magnus' glass of milk frosted over when he grabbed it, and Ewan was amazed.

Rónán knocked three times on the tabletop. "Oy! Werewolf up here!" He said to the underside of the table, and a very rare slab of bacon appeared on his plate. "_Thank_ you!"

Normally, Magnus took his bacon very crisp, and his ham seared. The smell of the rare meat, however, was making him drool. He shook his head and blinked, concentrating instead on the mix of cinnamon and sugar that Rigel was stirring into his porridge with one hand, while covering his toast with syrup with his other hand.

"I'm ambidextrous," Rigel explained. Magnus just looked at him. "I can use both hands at once for anything."

"_Any_thing?" Sebastian smiled.

_That _was enormously funny, and Ewan choked on his juice and shot it out his nose! "Where did you get that?" he then asked of Sebastian, who was sipping at a steaming cup of coffee.

Rigel raised an eyebrow. "You _know_ what happens when Veelas get into caffeine?" He reminded Sebastian. "What do they _mean_, giving kids coffee?!"

"How do _you_ know so much about me?" Sebastian wondered.

"My uncle Louis is part Veela," Rigel reminded him. "His great-Gran's "V"-genes went all the way down to him, and made a real mess of _his_ genetics."

"I've never met another boy-Veela," Sebastian admitted. "We're very rare, I think. Mum says it's because the Veela genes are so strong that they most always produce daughters."

Rigel shrugged. "Uncle passed it to his daughter, too, but his son's are all human."

"What _are_ you lot chattering about over there?" Helene Malfoy turned from her seat at the Ravenclaw table to ask. Rigel bent down over his plate protectively. Helene snorted, then laughed. "You look ridiculous, _little_ brother!" Then she spotted Rónán's ears. Then the other girls all glanced up at Sebastian with dewy eyes.

"_You_ asked for it," Rigel taunted him, "Have _another_ cup, why don't you?"

"What _about _Uncle Louis?" Helene insisted, glaring at the French boy.

"He's part Veela. Artie's human, and Lucy's part Veela too," Rigel informed her. "_And_ a size 2?"

Helene glared at him.

**FLASH!**

"Wha's up with yer _ears_?" Liam Creevey gasped, taking a snapshot of Rónán.

"NOTHING!"

"Maybe you'd best call home?" Ewan suggested.

"So far, so good there, Mag?" Daniel Birken, his Second Year friend, asked happily. "So when we going scoffing?"

"Scoffing?" Ewan wondered.

"I'll explain it later, right? I think it's going to be a _long _day?" Magnus replied, picking at his eggs and still glancing at Rónán's bacon.

Charms was their first class of the day, as they were to get a small sampling of all classes with shorter periods to fit them all in. Rigel tried to slip in the back, as they'd just made it by the bell, but their teacher pointed to the front row and cleared his throat loudly. There were whispers and snickers as the Hufflepuffs made their way up.

"Well?" The professor asked.

"I had to _go_!" Rigel explained.

"Ah. And Greyson, _do_ have Professor Peakes take a look at that tail in Transfig's, won't you?" Professor Orion Malfoy suggested, as he began roll call. With everyone accounted for, he introduced them to the first basic Charm – making objects fly – as he sent a feather from a box on his desk to each pupil.

"Wands out, and repeat after me, 'Wingardium Levi_OH_sa!" He instructed.

There was a chorus of the incantation. Nothing happened.

"It says to swish it and flick it," Magnus pointed out.

"'Flick'? Windgardium _Lev_iohsah!" Sebastian repeated, waving his rather long and whippy wand at his feather. Perhaps it was his French accent, or the wand itself, or lack of 'flick'. Sebastian's feather shot upward like an arrow, stuck in a ceiling beam, then exploded in a shower of ash and sparks.

Professor Malfoy palmed his face. "Thank Merlin I didn't start you off with bricks," he muttered. "What's _in _that wand, Fournier? It's a Veela hair, _isn't_ it?"

"Yes, sir," Sebastian grinned, "Willow, too! Mr. Gregorovitch said it came from a very special willow tree?"

Professor Malfoy's face went paler than it was. "Let me see that," he snapped, snatching up the boy's wand. He examined it closely. "Did he say from where?" Sebastian shook his head. The wand jerked around in the professor's hand and whacked him on the nose. "Temperamental, I'd say, this is _not _a good wand for Charms," he declared. Then he seemed to be having an idea. "Potter's going to just _love_ this!" He then laughed, as the lesson resumed.

"Mr. Ollivander said your wand was 'nuclear', but that mine was good for…" Magnus whispered to Sebastian, as his feather began to twitch, then slowly rise. "Look! Look! I've got it!"

"Five points for Hufflepuff," Professor Malfoy said, rubbing his nose. "And one off for my nose!"

"I bet the wood came from the Whomping Willow," Rigel guessed. "The grain's right. I got a WWW trick wand when I was little, for my birthday, and it used to do the same thing!"

"What's that?" Ewan asked, as his feather got up on its point and toddled right off the desk.

"A big, violent tree down the way," Rigel explained. "Don't even go near it! It moves, and it's got a bad temper."

"Oh," Sebastian groaned. "Well that's just _great_!" His new feather then rose up, bent, and snapped in half.

The Slytherins with whom they shared the class were having just about as much luck as the Hufflepuffs. Each one of the girls, though, had somehow managed to mutilate their feathers and weren't paying attention. Professor Malfoy gave Sebastian a look and rolled his eyes.

"OWWWW! Watch it, now!" Adams complained to Harper and her friends, as her feather shot off the desk and stabbed him in the upper arm. "What are you thinking, woman?"

"Doesn't he just have the most _perfect_ hair?" Harper wondered, absently toying with her wand as she stared in the Hufflepuffs' direction. "It's so long and silky."

"He's not even a HUMAN!" Poynter blurted, which they all heard. Professor Malfoy took five points for talking out of turn as their other classmate just rolled his eyes and sighed.

Sebastian got his feather to fly once, then put away his wand and rested his head on the desk. Rónán did the same. Rigel not only managed to get his feather to fly, but he also got it to attack the two mouthy boys, and lost five points for his trouble.

Their next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, or **DADA** for short. The Hufflepuffs shared this class with the Gryffindors. There were many gasps as Harry Potter walked into the room, his wand at the ready, as he greeted them.

"Good day so far, Gove?" He asked Magnus, patting his head as he passed by.

"You _know_ him?" One of the Gryffindor boys, Lawrence, Magnus remembered, asked in wonder.

Magnus just nodded, not understanding the look of awe on the boy's face.

Their first exercise was "Expelliarmus," which Professor Potter explained was really "a Wizard's bread and butter." Attention spans were limited, however, as many of the Magical children were so in awe of having "The" Harry Potter for a teacher. Or at least, so they thought.

But Magnus knew better. _If it's such a secret, why didn't they wipe my memory? _He kept thinking.

"Not quite, Miss Finnigan," Potter consoled a girl, as her wand shot out of her hand and stuck in the test dummy like an arrow. "Although I'm sure that would give an attacker some pause! Right then, who's next? How about … Gove?"

A bit embarrassed, Magnus stood and took aim at the dummy. "Expelliarmus!" He flicked his wand at it. The dummy didn't move.

"With feeling, like you're in real danger," Potter reminded him. "Think of it as, perhaps, an attacker in a hen house at midnight?" He added with a wink, and rolled the dummy towards the boy.

Magnus tried again, recalling how scared he'd been the night of his werewolf attack. The dummy was promptly knocked over, and its dummy wand went flying. "Five points for Hufflepuff!" Potter congratulated him. "Now, how about…Jordan?"

A black boy from Gryffindor with a clean-shaven head stood up. His first try blew the dummy's head right off!

"Bit much," Potter corrected his stance and grip on his wand. "Then again, your grandfather always tended to overdo it, too. Now, how about, Malfoy?" He blinked, but didn't comment as he scratched at his head.

Rigel groaned, but performed the Spell perfectly.

"When you've got as many older siblings and cousins as I do, you pick stuff up," Rigel shrugged. "That, or you get Hexed to death! The twins can be evil sometimes."

"Twins?" Ewan asked.

"Cousins, one of the hundreds o'mine," Rigel rolled his eyes. "They're Fourth Years, Gryffindors of course."

All in all, it was a successful lesson. Even a nervous Ewan got it right after a few tries. Then it was Sebastian's turn.

Rigel ducked under the desk, warning the rest of them.

Sebastian's results were, to put it mildly, disastrous.

As he spoke the word and flicked his wand, the dummy was blasted into a burning puff feathers and splintered wood. The wood frame fragments flew back into the blackboard, shattering it, and the remnants fell off the wall. The stone behind it cracked, and the recoil threw Sebastian over the next desk back and right into the laps of Fiona Finnigan and all her friends. They didn't seem to mind at all and made quite the fuss over him, insisting that he be taken to Madame Pomfrey at once.

"Oh, geroff me!" Sebastian complained.

Magnus picked up his friend's wand and shyly offered it to him. He didn't see anything wrong with it, but it was "tingly", he thought. He saw that the professor was restoring the dummy.

"Well, that was exciting," Potter declared. "Real powerhouse of a wand there, Fournier!"

"Th-thanks, I think," a dazed Sebastian replied shakily.

"Now, how about…Greyson?" Potter asked, taking a second look as Rónán stood. "Nice tail," he offered, and several students snickered behind their hands. Rónán couldn't disarm the dummy, there was scattered laughter, and the small boy lost it.

In a flash, his face extended into a muzzle and he lunged, biting the dummy's hand off and crunching the wand like hard candy. When he realized what he'd done, his face returned to normal, but his ears and tail didn't. There was murmuring in the classroom, until Potter put a stop to it and excused the embarrassed boy. Sebastian watched him leaving, head down.

Next came Herbology, which was held in a greenhouse off to the side of the school. Their teacher was an older lady with gray hair and wearing a dirty robe and wide-brimmed hat. She introduced herself as Professor Pamona Longbottom, and she recognized Magnus right off. It was a bit embarrassing, but she reminded the boy a great deal of "Gran" back home in Godric's Hollow. "Gran's told me all about you," she said to Magnus, as they all filed in. Once again, they were paired up with the Slytherins, none of whom seemed very impressed with the greenhouse.

Things went well until Rónán began to sneeze and Magnus began to break out in hives all over his scarred forearm.

"I heard from the Gryffindorks what happened in DADA," Someone mumbled.

"Oh, dear! I forgot all about the…" Professor Longbottom began, but Magnus interrupted her.

"Wolfsbane, or aconite!" He scratched furiously at his arm, confused. "But I'm not allergic to _anything_?"

"Five points for Hufflepuff!" Longbottom declared, looking worried.

Adams and Poynter and their cronies suddenly looked interested.

"_Two_ of you?" Adams grinned wickedly at the Hufflepuffs.

"You know what they say about being allergic to woofsbane," Poynter threw in.

"Is it time to feed the giant pitcher plant yet?" Rigel asked, as Rónán and Magnus fled.

Madame Marigold Pomfrey was not pleased. She promptly slathered the boys with anti-itch cream and gave Rónán what he called a "nose enema" to stop the sneezing. "Mum and Gran both warned me about this," she complained. "And _you_!" She whipped her wand at Rónán again, making his ears go back to human-normal. He'd carefully hidden his tail!

"Tell her about the tail!" Magnus encouraged him when she turned her back.

"NO!"

History of Magic was extremely boring, once the shock of being lectured by a Ghost wore off. If over a century had passed, Professor Binns apparently hadn't noticed it. He droned on and on about Goblin rebellions, and Magnus was ever so thankful that he'd gotten a new automatic Dicta-quill for this birthday that took down all the notes – most of which later proved to be wrong when compared to the revised Bagshot-Weasley textbook! The Ravenclaws, with whom they shared this class, were not at all impressed either.

By lunchtime, and almost four hours of classes, the students were feeling starved. Lunch turned out to be a "build your own sandwich" thing, with homemade crisps, and for the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, Magnus couldn't find fault with that. It was a quick easy lunch, and satisfying. Rónán complained that the sliced meats were cooked, however, and only picked at his food.

Then it was time for Potions, and thankfully, as Rigel studied their schedule, it was not with Slytherin but Ravenclaw again.

Potions, located in the cool dungeons, was taught by Madame Boudica Iceni*, a tall and imposing brunette with a hard face. Magnus found her frightening. Potions, however, was so much like cooking that the Hufflepuffs (under Magnus' guidance) had no problem in preparing their cure for boils at all. In fact, they finished so quickly that they even had time to nick some carbonated water and brew their own cauldron full of fizzy drink. The catch was, when Madame Iceni caught them at it, that she insisted on having them serve a detention with her that night to brew _her_ a few more litres! Magnus was also obliged to slip the recipe to the Ravenclaws at the next able, where one boy by the name of Garrett Alcott swore he knew how to carbonate water.

Their last class of the long day was Transfiguration, where Rónán finally got his tail sorted out. It was, however, a class that required wandwork, and the Hufflepuffs were understandably nervous about Sebastian's wand.

Madame Indira Peakes, a young Indian lady with light coffee-colored skin and a pretty face found a gloomy Sebastian and his wand fascinating. "This is a _wonderful _wand! So whippy!" She praised it, as it tingled in her hand. "But I hear it doesn't like Professor Malfoy?"

Rigel snickered. "No Ma'am!"

Sebastian seemed to cheer right up at once.

They shared this class with the Gryffindors, and their task was to turn a cotton swab into a matchstick. There wasn't much progress, until Ewan squealed in excitement that he'd gotten it. When the Professor scratched his match, though, the head didn't ignite; instead, it blossomed into a fluffy swab of cotton! Ewan was disappointed. "Almost," she smiled at him, which made the whole thing all right again.

Much to the Firsties' disappointment, someone had decided (about ten years after the famous Final Battle at Hogwarts) that First Years had too much free time and had added an introduction to "Care of Magical Creatures" class. This class took place down the way at Maximilian Hagrid's cabin.

"Are you a Giant, sir?" Garrett Alcott of Ravenclaw asked, as all the Houses had the class together.

"Only half. Me grandparents were both half-Giants!" Hagrid replied. "Comes in handy with some o' these poor misunderstood creatures!"

"I wonder," Adams agreed, giving the Hufflepuffs a look.

Hagrid entertained the class with some Nifflers, small brown furry animals that resembled duck-billed platypuses. The girls found them adorable, the boys not so much. The Nifflers wouldn't go near Rónán, though.

"So do they taste like chicken?" Poynter asked him.

"Leave him alone," Sebastian warned him.

"Excuse me, Hagrid?" Another boy's voice called, and the class looked up to see a very young Centaur emerging from the forest. He looked like someone had combined a Firstie and a small pony. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but Father needs you. That hoof infection is getting really bad."

"Really?! _Another _one?" Adams exclaimed.

"Class, this is Aries. You should consider yerselfs really lucky to meet an actual Centaur, much less a colt!" Hagrid informed them. "Class dismissed! Lemme go get me farrier's kit," Hagrid told the colt.

"I…I didn't think Centaurs were _real_!" Magnus gasped. Aries pinched his arm. "OWWW! Guess so, what?!" He shook his hand.

"You're a Veela, aren't you?" Aries then asked Sebastian, offering his hand. "I've never met a boy-one before."

"I've never met a Centaur before!" Sebastian shook his hand. "I don't think there are any in France."

"Birds of a feather," Poynter scoffed, as the Firsties all met Aries.

"Oh, shut _up _about it already!" Another boy in Slytherin robes spoke up. "I'm sick to death of hearing about non-Humans from you two! _Merlin_, why didn't I ask the Hat for a different House?!"

"I think _you're_ the one who should shut it, Bole," Adams warned him. "You don't see anyone in _our _House walking around with a _tail_, for Merlin's sake!"

"What's _he _so upset about?" Aries asked, flicking his own tail.

"I think I scared him this morning," Rónán shrugged indifferently. The problem was, it didn't _look_ indifferent. "I changed in my sleep, an' my tail got stuck. I…I'm not so good at voluntary self-transfiguration."

"We're not scared of you lot!" Poynter defended his Housemate, moving into their space.

"Yeah, I _am_!" Adams disagreed, "An' if I were you lot," he pointed at the Hufflepuffs, "I'd be a lot _more_ scared in two nights! You should know, _Gove_! You've already been attacked!" He gave Magnus' a weak shove. "And you were getting sick in Herbology, too!"

"_Rónán didn't do anything to me_!" Magnus yelled at him, "You leave him alone! It was…"

"Someone else of _his_ kind, yeah we know!" Adams finished for him.

"We've been safe for a hundred years," Rónán pulled a brave face, but his voice broke. "I can't help it! I was _born_ this way!"

"Yeah, 'cause they let your kind _breed_," Poynter fired back, "Maybe they should get _you_ neutered?"

Sebastian stepped forward, his eyes black and avian. The Slytherins stepped back. "SEE?! You _see_ how dangerous they are?" Adams squeaked. "Now we've got a mad Veela to watch out for!"

Being an honest boy, Magnus would later confess to having thrown the first punch. He surprised himself with it, even, as he had no idea what came over him. He hit Poynter square in the mouth, and for the first punch he'd ever thrown, it was a good one. The Slytherin went down. Magnus' knuckle broke. Poynter spat out a tooth. Adams lunged at Rónán, but found Aries' back hooves instead.

"You deserved that one," Bole informed his injured Housemates, brushing his black hair back off his ear to reveal the sharp point. "An' jus' so you know, my grandfather's a Sprite!" He paused. "And my Dad's a _lawyer_!"

"Wha's goin' on out here?" Hagrid demanded, as he reemerged from his cabin and took in the sight of the wounded boys. Aries gave him the story.

Hagrid thought about it. "Twenty points from both Houses," he decided. "An' you'll all have detention, an' I'll be havin' Headmaster Weasley sort that one out. Now _get_! And _you_!" He told Aries. "Guess I can't give you detention…" he thought about it.

"Only because _I_ can't go to school," Aries huffed. "Father's hoof, remember?"

After being tossed out of the Infirmary, the Hufflepuffs made their way back to the Cellar. None of them were hungry, and since they all had homework, they just sat around doing that. None of them could get into it, either. They skipped dinner. Rigel even forgot his meeting with his uncle Hugo.

"Some first day," Rónán sighed. "I didn't do the tail on purpose," he added sincerely.

"Dad should have fixed it for you this morning," Rigel tried to console him. "None of this would have happened."

"We know," Magnus smiled weakly at him, trying his best to write with his braced hand.

"Nice punch," Sebastian commented.

"No clue what come over me!" Magnus nodded quickly, "I _never_ hit anyone before!"

"Yeah, but what _if _you get sick this time?" Rónán worried. "You don't wanna change the hard way, Magnus, believe me." The little boy shivered. Then he got up and went to his bed. The boys went back to their homework. Or tried to. Rónán was scribbling away at something. Magnus thought he'd better write home and confess.

"And here I thought the cemetery was gloomy," the Fat Friar, Ghost of Hufflepuff House, observed as he drifted in. "Thought I should check up on you lot, since I didn't see you at dinner."

Magnus hadn't really paid much attention to the Ghosts after his initial shock of seeing them. After all, Hannah and the old folks back home had already told him all about them.

"Thank you, sir," Magnus replied.

"Bloody Slytherins," Sebastian mumbled.

"Now, now," the Friar corrected him, "You have to see it from their side, too, my boy. They were sticking together, just like you were, and they're scared, too. Ignorance, and I do not mean 'stupidity', can be a very powerful motivator. They just don't _know _you. Then again," he added after a bit, "Not so smart, cornering a bunch of badgers!"

"They're gonna make that Bole kid miserable," Magnus fretted.

"And you're worried about _him_? A true Hufflepuff," The Friar asked. "Don't be. I've had words with the Bloody Baron. Lucas will be fine. Besides, now that they know he's a Sprite-mix, they'll be terrified of _him_, too."

"Or that his daddy's a lawyer," Rigel added.

It would have been funny under different circumstances, but just then, it wasn't.

"I think you boys should go and talk to Cedric in the Common Room later," the Friar advised.

"Who?" Ewan asked.

"I keep forgetting that Portraits can talk!" Magnus remembered, "But why?"

"Read the plaque, then tell him all about it," the Friar replied, as he faded away.

But none of them did. Rigel fell asleep, face-down in his Potions book. Sebastian went to bed without a word, and Ewan was mumbling incoherently about **DADA** as Magnus steered him to his bed and covered him. Rónán, who'd forgotten to close his curtains, was twitching in his sleep and making little yipping noises. Magnus drew his comforter up, and when he did, a letter fell to the floor. He picked it up.

_Dear Mum & Dad:_

_I want to go home. I hate it here. First nite, I chanjed in my sleep._

_My tale and ears got stuck and none of the teechers would change it back until the last class. Everyone laffed at me, or they're skared of me_

_Is Teddy realee sure that Magnus is OK? I'm skared he'll…_

"Oh, no!" Magnus fretted, looking at the boys he'd made such fast friends with. He didn't know what to do. He really didn't, but he knew he had to do _something_. He went to his trunk, and dug out his copy of **Studies in the Development & Upbringing of Juvenile Werewolves by Hermione Granger-Weasley**. _And with all he's got on his plate, he's worried about _me_? _Magnus thought.

It was after midnight when his stomach reminded him again that he'd missed dinner. And since he was a Gove, and since he was hungry and since he didn't know what else to do, Magnus did what Goves _do_ in such situations – he headed for the kitchen.

The empty Common Room was quiet, and the thick carpet made no sound under Magnus' bare feet. A fire cheerfully crackled in the fireplace, warming the room and filling it with soft orange light.

"Sneaking out?" Someone asked, as Magnus crossed the Common Room. He jumped, clapping his hands over his mouth to stifle a yelp.

There was no one there.

No one but the Portrait of Cedric Diggory reflected in the firelight.

"Isn't it lovely, having a kitchen almost right outside your front door? No risk of getting caught, unlike the other three Houses," Cedric asked him, his eternal teenage visage smiling at the boy. "You know, I remember when _I _was a Firstie. It was such fun. We all made ourselves sick snacking at night that first week!"

"I…I suppose you heard?" Magnus asked.

Cedric nodded. "MacMillan was out here raving about it earlier, yes. Twenty points in _one _go? I think you've got detention, washing dishes with the Elves for a month. Fighting is a pretty serious offense, Mag," Cedric informed him. "You lot could have been expelled. Good thing it were that Centaur boy who kicked Adams!" He laughed. "_He_ can't get expelled."

"But if he's half-Human, _why _can't he come to school here?" Magnus asked. "Didn't Hogwarts have a Centaur for a professor one time, I read?"

"Good question," Cedric replied. "Now, you were about to sneak out? I'd suggest you talk to Sonny, the old Elf under the third sink. He doesn't sleep much."

"Thanks," Magnus whispered, as out he went.

"You's is early," Sonny greeted him in a croaking, frog-like voice. "Kiddies doesn't shows up until nearly one in the morning, an' Professorers at two-thirty!"

"You must be Sonny?" Magnus introduced himself.

"Sonny Kreacher Black, House Elf of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Lupin, what were Black once," Sonny introduced himself, rather loudly. Magnus was worried he'd wake the lot of them. The Elf looked around. "Master Teddy sends Sonny to keep his eye on little Rónán!" He added in a whisper.

"He wants to go home," Magnus told him. "He's very upset, and I don't know what to do!"

"You do's what you do's when you doesn't knows what to do's," Sonny replied, handing him a mixing bowl. "Master tells Sonny you be's the boy who cooks all night?"

"Get up!" Magnus gave a Rigel a shake about an hour later. After some protesting, they got the others up as well. Rónán sniffed the air.

"Is it time for breakfast already?" Ewan wondered.

"No, it's time for scoffing," Magnus answered, leading them to the kitchen.

"Hey, Sonny," Rónán greeted the Elf glumly. "What'r you doing here?"

"Taking cares of you," Sonny informed him.

"What is that?" Sebastian then asked, pointing at what appeared to be a long, round pudding of some kind. It was pale yellow in color, and covered in powdered sugar. It had been cut at one end, exposing the bright red jam inside.

"It's a roly-poly pudding," Magnus explained. "Not that hard to make, even with one hand."

"What are we doing?" Rigel asked.

"Eating!" Ewan exclaimed.

"So, is this something you just _do_ in Godric's Hollow?" Sebastian asked, as they attacked the pudding while Sonny served cold milk. They had, after all, gone to bed without dinner.

"Of course it is!" The door squeaked open, and three men in nightcaps and dressing gowns entered.

"What's _this_?" Orion Malfoy asked.

"**Ahhh**! Looks like a roly-poly to me," Hugo Weasley observed.

"I'd say you're right," Harry Potter agreed. "Be a good boy and fetch us three more plates, won't you Mag?" he suggested.

"Oh, and Rigel," Hugo smiled at him, "Did you forget our meeting today?" He added, as he took a bite of the pudding. "Marvelous! Five points for Hufflepuff!"

"And isn't there _something _you lot wish to explain to me?" Orion asked.

"Oh, bollocks," Rigel mumbled.

**Notes**

1st Year Classes are:

Charms – Orion Malfoy, son of Rose & Scorpius, with Slytherin

Defense Against the Dark Arts – Harry Potter (Henry Griffiths) with Gryffindor

Herbology – Pamona Longbottom, granddaughter of Hannah and Neville, with Slytherin

History of Magic – Binns, with Ravenclaw

Intro COMC, all Houses, with Hagrid

lunch

Potions – Madame Boudica Iceni, with Ravenclaw

Transfiguration – Madame Indira Peakes, with Gryffindor

Astronomy – all together at midnight

see Wiki page:  wiki/Boudica

Lucian Bole is mentioned as a Slytherin Quidditch player when Harry was in school, canon character in passing.


	3. Chapter 3-Scoffing at Flying

3-Scoffing at Flying

**It never hurts to suck up!**

Morning came all too soon for the boys. While Magnus was used to having his night's sleep interrupted now and again, his friends apparently weren't. They got off to a slow start, and were almost late for breakfast.

To compound their problems, the full moon was tomorrow night. Rónán kept his hood up, although he _had_ been able to pull in his tail this time, after having changed form in his sleep again. His ears were, however, stuck yet _again_. He was also tired and cranky, having used an inordinate amount of soap to fight off the "wet dog smell". He didn't look at anyone, either, because his eyes were golden instead of blue.

Sebastian seemed fine, although _his_ eyes were very dark and Magnus thought there might be something wrong with the tip of his nose. Rigel tried his haircut Charm again, but it failed halfway up to breakfast.

And Magnus' scarred forearm was itching again.

Ewan was the only one, it seemed, without a problem. He perked right up as breakfast appeared before them. They'd taken the far end of the Hufflepuff table in order to stay away from everyone else, as even Ewan and Rigel couldn't watch Rónán eating bloody pork chops and putting the bones in his pockets. Magnus settled for sausages and toast, but as he watched Rónán "murdering" his breakfast, he was overcome.

"Can I try that?" He asked timidly, wondering whatever would his father think if he knew?

"Sure," Rónán looked surprised, but offered him a bite.

The meat was warm, the edges with fat caramelized, but the centers were cool and oozing blood. It was much like a _very _rare steak, which Magnus took his medium rare – thank you very much – and it was delicious!

"You did _not _just eat that?" Rigel gasped.

"You'll get worms!" Ewan fretted.

Even Magnus himself looked surprised.

Sebastian just sipped his coffee and shook his head.

"Not eating, there pretty boy?" Another voice spoke up, and the Hufflepuffs looked up to see identical faces starting back at them.

"Gents, let me introduce Fabian and Gideon Weasley, a fine example of my many cousins," Rigel introduced them.

"Now, now, Fluffy," one of them tussled Rigel's hair, "It just…"  
"…wouldn't be Hogwarts…"  
"…without Weasley Twins!" They completed their sentence in turns, finishing each other's thoughts, it seemed.

"And we're running low…"  
"…On Weasleys and Potters this term…,"  
"…Making us the oldest…"  
"…For once!"

"See what I mean?" Rigel sighed, but his friends seemed fascinated.

"That meat's a bit underdone…" - "…don't you think?" The Twins asked. Then they snapped their fingers at one another. "Riiiiight," they both realized, patting Rónán's head. "There's a good boy!"

Rónán just groaned.

Then Fabian – or Gideon – Magnus couldn't tell which, presented them with a small box with the **WWW** logo on top.

"Just in case…"  
"…You feel like skiving…"  
"…Since it's probably not a good idea…"  
"…To start flying lessons today…"  
"…For _you_ lot!" They declared.

"What _about_ our lot?" Rónán asked, his upper lip curling.

"_**Flying**_?!" Ewan squeaked.

"Flying," Sebastian nodded in an anxious tone, his eyes dreamy. "You'll love it!"

"Have you all…"  
"…Playing at Quidditch…"  
"…In no time!" The Twins predicted. Then they took their leave.

Rigel opened the box. "Puking Pastilles, _with _antidote," he observed. "Seriously, though, flying's great," he assured a nervous Ewan and Magnus.

"_Wolves_ don't fly," Rónán disagreed. "That's why we have Floo's, Apparation, Portkeys, and the Knight Bus!" he sort of snarled.

"But flying leads to Quidditch!" Rigel continued, his eyes seeming to glaze over like Sebastian's, "You've _got_ to just love it!"

Magnus shook his head. Goves, by nature, were not athletic at all. Magnus could sympathize with Rónán, too. Ever since the original Magnus, who'd been amongst the laughing stock at Dryden Park more than a hundred years ago since he was rubbish at cricket, no Gove had ever excelled at any sport other than cross country running. And this was only because of the daring and near-impossible runs into town that Magnus-I had made in order to procure ingredients for his midnight feasts.

And Magnus VI was no better.

It wasn't that he hadn't tried. He'd gone out for football [soccer], cricket, rugby, and anything else that he could get into. But he was simply no good at it. Rugby, he recalled, had been a particularly disastrous event.

"It's in the genes," his father had always consoled him, after some failed athletic venture.

"I…I don't think I much fancy flying," Magnus announced, rubbing at his sore hand. His knuckle might have magically healed already, but it still hurt a bit.

Ewan pulled out his schedule. "An' it gets worse. _All _of us Firsties have class together, with Professor Wood and his assistant, Jones."

"Didn't you say you flew with Harry Potter?" Rónán wondered.

"Yes, but when we flew to the Canary Islands that one holiday, _I _wasn't piloting the bloody airplane, now _was_ I?!" Magnus exclaimed, which was enormously funny to the boys, getting them some odd looks from all around.

"Well, at least it's after lunch," Ewan checked his schedule. "So you can always hurl and aim it at Adams!"

They were still laughing as they headed out for a double Charms period with Professor Malfoy, much to Rigel's chagrin.

Much to Rónán's chagrin, and also Magnus' somewhat, all the Firsties were abuzz with chatter about their first flying lesson.

"Now I would imagine," Professor Wood was saying, "That many of you Magical family lot already know some basic flying maneuvers? That's all just wonderful, however, you need to remember that you _all_ have a great deal to learn! Now, show of hands – how many from Magical families with broom riding experience?"

There was a great show of hands.

Magnus didn't really notice, though. He was looking at the old broomstick lying in the grass at his feet as if it were some great dirty snake.

"Gove, I believe? You there, the strawberry Hufflepuff boy?" Someone called.

"Mag," Rigel hissed in his ear.

"Uhm, what?!" Magnus gasped.

"Jones is talking to _you_, Mag!" Rigel repeated, nudging his ribs. "Glyn Jones, of the Cannons? Grand-something-grandson of Gwenog Jones, legendary player for the Holyhead Harpies? Descendant of Welsh…"

"_Who_?" Magnus mumbled, feeling as if he might vomit.

"Muggleborns," Rigel sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, sir," Rigel apologized. "The last time Mag here was on a broom, Uncle Harry scared the life out of him, I wonder?"

"Ah, yes, Mr. … Weasley?" Jones asked, as Wood was scoping out the show of hands from Gryffindor and taking roll there.

"Close enough," Rigel sighed.

"Right then, as I'm an old badger myself, I'll be taking you and Ravenclaw. We'll just let ol' Jamie have at it with the lions and snakes, won't we? That'll be fun!" He laughed. "How many of you lot are new to this?"

Magnus felt his face burn and reluctantly raised his hand. Of course Daniel had talked about it, and it had all sounded like jolly good fun at the time, but that was long before being whisked into the sky with Harry Potter.

And it was certainly not as if Magnus had been doing the 'driving'!

"Let's see…what? Scott? Aren't you related to…?"

"Yes, sir," Ewan interrupted, "But I'm not allowed to fly."

"You are now," Rigel muttered.

"You are _now_," Jones confirmed. "What about Fournier?"

"Here, sir!" Sebastian piped up, his dark eyes glittering in excitement.

Jones gave him a look. "No problem there, broomstick or not, right? Now, Greyson?"

"Sir," Rónán squeaked, and it was a miserable little sound. Magnus glanced at the smaller ginger boy, and noticed the crumbs on his robe at once.

"You didn't?" Magnus whispered.

"I _did_," Rónán smiled proudly, pulling a WWW wrapper from his pocket.

Rónán had eaten a Puking Pastille.

"Greyson…are you related to the …ah… _Northern_ Greysons?"

"Every single one of them, sir," Rónán answered. "Right down to the last paws."

"I know you'd rather be running cross country, then," Jones patted his shoulder. "Chin up, son, there's always one every year."

"One _what_?" Magnus had to ask.

"Accident, or runaway," Rigel supplied. "Gran told me when her folks were in school, that some boy named Neville busted his wrist on a runaway broom his first time. Even after a century, it's still the stuff of legend!"

Rónán had turned decidedly green.

So had Magnus, without benefit of a Pastille.

When roll was taken, Jones ordered them to grasp their broomsticks with the "UP!" command. "Don't be afraid of it, it's like a horse. It can sense fear!"

There was a chorus of "up-up-up-up-up's!"

For some, like Sebastian and Rigel, the broom obeyed them at once. In Ewan and Magnus' cases, the brooms just sort of flopped about like landed fish. Still others, like Alcott of Ravenclaw and Rónán, got no response from their brooms at all.

"No, no, _no_, Adams!" Wood was shouting across the lawn, "You're gripping your shaft all wrong!" They all turned to see the Slytherin boy's face flaming in embarrassment; apparently he'd been bragging about his abilities, and had just been called down.

Rigel laughed. "I knew it! _Knew_ it! Him and Hound-dog both!"

"You really don't like Poynter do you?" Magnus asked, as his broom finally obeyed him and flew up into his hand.

"What gave you _that_ idea?" Rigel smiled, already mounted on his placidly hovering broom.

"Now, you lot, mount your brooms, just like Weasley," Jones ordered.

"_Malfoy_, sir," Rigel corrected him. Jones just smiled. "The Twins put you up to that, didn't they? _Didn't _they?!" Rigel exclaimed.

"I call them as I see them," Jones laughed, as the boys – other than Sebastian and Rigel – nervously mounted their brooms.

"This isn't so bad," Magnus observed, as his feet hovered a few centimeters off the grass. "Are we done now, sir?"

Ewan wasn't having the best luck balancing, and Rónán twitched – hard.

"s'matter, 'Puffs?" Adams asked, smirking at them from across the short distance that separated their classes. "Motion sickness?"

"Come over here an' say that!" Rónán challenged him, and Magnus saw it coming. Anxious to show off, Adams drifted right on over to laugh in Rónán's face.

Then Rónán's lunch made an encore appearance – all over Adams' front!

"Must have been the Projectile-Pastilles," Rigel commented casually, turning fluidly to face Sebastian. "Don't you think? Good distance on that shot!"

"Good thing it wasn't the Diarrhea Dainties," Sebastian agreed, which got the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws all into helpless laughter so badly that a few fell off their brooms. A few of the girls, distracted as usual by the half-Veela boy, fell off of theirs from lack of attention.

"YOU LITTLE FREAK!" Adams shouted at Rónán, who was by now, kneeling in the grass and vomiting with much gusto.

"You there, Weas-…Malfoy, since you're obviously not going to miss a thing, take Greyson to Hospital, won't you?" Jones suggested.

"Certainly, sir," Rigel smiled, giving Rónán a hand up. Then he gracefully flew off with him as Jones stared after them.

"Erm, five points for Hufflepuff?" Jones declared, watching Rigel smoothly swoop around a bush with a still-heaving Rónán clutching at him for dear life.

"HEY! STOP! Down, boy!" Ewan then yelped, as his broomstick jerked. He gripped it firmly, but to no avail.

The broomstick shot off with him, then banked straight up along the far wall of the Castle and over it, out of sight.

"You owe me money," Wood called to Jones.

"SIR!" Magnus gasped, jumping off his broom. He'd seen enough. Magnus was done!

"He'll be back, the brooms all have safety Charms now. It won't damage itself," Jones informed them.

"HELLLLLP!" Ewan's voice carried over the wall, as he then came zooming back for another pass.

"Hold on!" Garrett Alcott called helpfully.

"Aim fer the lake!" Lucas Bole of Slytherin suggested, as he sat his own broomstick and rose several metres off the ground for a better view. "I _say_, push down on the shaft, man!"

Ewan pulled up instead.

Then he shot skyward.

"Oh bloody hell!" Wood gasped. "That shouldn't have happened!"

Jones grabbed Magnus' broom, but for as fast as he was, Sebastian was faster. It was clear that the French boy had already had some practice as he launched himself like a rocket after his friend.

"There's always one," Wood sighed, pulling his wand. "Cushioning Charms, Jones."

"Right," Jones agreed, wand out. "Say, they're getting pretty high! I don't like this!"

"GET ME DOWN!" Ewan screamed.

"Bad idea just now, mon ami,' Sebastian called out, wondering if he could hear him over the wind as pushed the old school broom to catch Ewan.

Sebastian heard a 'pop'. He pushed the broom harder. "Merde!" He exclaimed, noting the crack forming in his broomstick's tip. Still, he climbed harder.

Ewan's broom seemed to be losing momentum. The plump boy's hands were frozen to the shaft like a tongue to a metal pole in winter, but the broomstick only seemed to know one direction. Sebastian was closing, his mount beginning to shudder under the stress of the climb. He dared a look down.

The Castle was a toy, the class only tiny action figures as if looking down on some board game.

**POP!**

"Your maman must have been a mop!" Sebastian cursed at his broom. "C'est des conneries!"

But Sebastian was gaining. He saw Ewan clearly against the deep blue sky, the colors popping all around him in stark clarity and focus. He knew his eyes had shifted, as Rigel would have said, "Your Veela is showing."

Any other time, Sebastian would have been self-conscious – but not now. The boy was at home in the air, and he relished in the power climb as the wind whistled in his ears. He looked down. His ears popped. The Black Lake was a postage stamp.

He had overtaken Ewan, but his broomstick was shuddering badly now. The crack was widening in the shaft. Sebastian reached out an arm that now ended in vicious talons, grasping Ewan's broomstick. In his panic, Ewan tried to grab onto Sebastian.

Then he saw the talons and jerked back.

Ewan fell.

The sound of the wind was drowned out by the boy's scream.

The broomstick shuddered, then stalled.

"Oh, no, no, no," Sebastian began to swear again, knowing what he had to do.

They were all going to see it.

There was no help for it…unless…

Sebastian turned hard, and dived.

His broomstick shattered under the stress.

Sebastian then threw off his robes with one hand, hearing the tell-tale ripping of his shirt. He kicked himself free of the remnants of his broomstick end, and with a piercing cry of a raptor in flight, he dived after Ewan.

Broad, leathery wings stretched out behind him, fanning out and screaming in a brief flash of pain as the wind filled them and carried him back up.

Gone was the Hufflepuff boy. In his place was some sort of avian creature that needed no broomstick to fly.

Then Sebastian righted himself, focused on Ewan, folded his wings, flexed his tail, and dived.

"HELLLLLP!" Ewan screamed again, flailing about as if hoping to somehow discover the power of unaided flight. He heard an ear-splitting screech, and looked up.

Ewan screamed again.

Then wicked looking talons were closing on his upper arms, tearing into his robe. He felt stinging pain in his biceps as they cut him, but it was no worse than a paper cut. The talons closed tightly, yet somehow gently, as his descent slowed.

"S-S-Sebastian?" He gasped, staring into an avian face with large black eyes and a wicked hooked beak beneath a backswept crown of a regal feathery head.

His reply was a soaring eagle's cry as the Veela spread his wings again, and with a powerful flapping, carried them both upwards and slightly back.

"Ee-ee-easy now," Ewan mumbled, clenching his eyes shut and gripping Sebastian's ankles. The scaly surface of it was hard to hold, and Ewan gripped it for all he was worth.

"We're … we're flying!" Ewan then exclaimed, as they glided over the Campus, slowly going lower and lower.

"No, we are not! You are too heavy!" Sebastian rasped. "We are falling…but falling with the style," he added, clicking his beak to try and form the words.

Sebastian locked his wings as full as he could spread them, hoping for a rising thermal. Flapping them was nearly useless, what with Ewan's bulk, but the young Veela was sure he could bring them down smoothly in a glide. His sharp eyes locked onto the Black Lake, just in case, and he adjusted his tail as his mother had taught him some years ago. For just a moment, he lost himself in the joy of blue sky and white clouds and cool wind on his face.

"You're an Animagus!" Ewan laughed, his terror seemingly forgotten.

"No, I am a Veela. A _small _Veela," Sebastian reminded him. "Pa-pa says I am…what you call…puny. Can you swim, mon ami?"

"Yeah, why?" Ewan wondered.

"Because I think we are…OWWWWW!" Sebastian screamed, but this was not a cry of triumph.

This was a cry of pain as one of his shoulders gave way. His right wing collapsed.

"Tuck into a dive," Sebastian advised, struggling to keep his wings out as the Lake raced up to meet them.

Then there were jets of light coming at them, Charms to catch them, and their descent slowed.

_**SPLASH!**_  
*

"Merlin's sagging shorts!" Poynter exclaimed, awed, "That 'Puff can fly!"

"Oh, just look at him go!" Fiona Finnigan and the other girls gasped.

"Showoff," Adams complained, as they watched Sebastian's ascent. "Anyone can do _that_!"

"Anyone who can hold his shaft properly," Bole added with a smirk.

**POP!**

"Tha's not good," Wood declared.

"What is it?" Magnus gasped.

"He's pushing that old **Cloudburst 330** way too hard," Jones explained. "If he doesn't let off, he'll…"

_**SNAP!**_

"…break the shaft!" Jones finished glumly.

"Take aim," Wood ordered, and they did that. "Arrestor Momentum on my mark…" he ordered. The students drew their wands, even though they had no idea how to work the Charm.

"Is…is that what I _think_ it is?" Bole then exclaimed.

"I knew it!" Adams sneered. "I _knew_ he could do it!"

"Do what?" Miss Gaines of Gryffindor asked. "You're just jealous. I think it's heroic and brave and…"

She paused, looking up.

Then she screamed.

Ewan, it seemed, had a parachute.

A parachute that looked a lot like a boy-sized Gargoyle.

"The freak changed into a demon bird!" Adams informed them all. "He's a Veela, you know!"

"He's got wings! He's flying them down!" Magnus gasped in awe. "He doesn't need a broom to fly!"

"Not when you're a freak, no!" Adams pointed out, as Sebastian began a descending glide.

"Glad I don't share a room with _that_!" Poynter said. "Or _you_!"

"Wha's that supposed to mean?" Magnus demanded, as high above them, Sebastian screamed.

They all saw his right wing collapse.

"MARK!" Wood yelled.

"ARRESTO MOMENTUM!" A chorus of voices rang out, as lights from every wand shot skyward. Magnus wasn't even sure that his Charm would help, but he fired it off anyway.

Sebastian extended his damaged wing again, using his tail to change course.

"Guess the little ginger wolf isn't the only 'Puff with a tail!" Adams laughed.

"They're headed for the lake!" Jones called.

_**SPLASH!**_

Ewan and Sebastian went under.

The Professors ran for the water with students following.

But it was Lucas Bole of Slytherin who mounted his broom again and shot off towards the Black Lake, arriving first, where now floated two still forms – facedown.

Bole dived in, leaving his broom floating above the water.

"Accio, boys!" Wood and Jones both Summoned them, as a small tsunami rose up on the Black Lake.

"Where are they?" Jones wondered.

They then heard an awful barking sound, somewhat like language, as a black head of hair broke the water. The boy's hair was plastered down, and his pointed ears shown. He had Sebastian under one arm. The boy with him was literally green, his long dark green hair matted, as his fishtail slapped the water to propel him along with Ewan. The rode the wave until it broke on the shore.

"Shkach'ar'basch, Skralx!" Bole barked at the Merboy, who screeched back. The students covered their ears.

"Is that…a Mermaid?" Magnus wondered.

"Mer_boy_," Bole corrected him, as Wood took Ewan and the Merboy swam back out with a wave. He disappeared after a graceful high jump, to the applause from all. "I'm part water Sprite, at least, my Mum is." He then put a finger to Sebastian's throat.

The Veela lay across his lap on the beach, very still. One wing was crumpled beside him, and the other lay spread out like a sheet of leather, very bat-like. Bole pressed an ear to Sebastian's bare chest. In his transformation, only his trousers had survived, and they were tattered off at the knee. "He's breathing, but he's swallowed a lot of water!" Bole then waved his hand over Sebastian's throat, and a small fountain of water came out of the Veela's mouth and nose and followed the Slytherin's hand up and away.

By this time, Madame Marigold Pomfrey and some of the Staff were arriving.

"He's got a pulse," Bole informed them.

"Throw it back," Adams snorted in disgust. "_That_, boys and _girls_, is what a Veela _really_ looks like!"

"Still all dewy and ga-ga over _that_?" Poynter added with a grimace. "Not so cute _now_, is he, Harper? Finnigan? Gaines? Huh_? Huh_?"

There was murmuring, and more than one unflattering remark from the girls.

"You…you've got pointy Elf ears!" Miss Harper gasped at Lucas Bole.

"Yeah, well _you've_ got a big arse," Bole snapped back at her.

"Class dismissed," Wood snapped, smacking Ewan's back a few times as the boy coughed up water while trying to tell them all about it!

"What's all the excitement?" Headmaster Hugo Weasley asked, as he saw Bole checking Sebastian's pulse. "Oh dear!"

Sebastian coughed a few times, and his white blond hair began to come back as the crown of his head rounded back off. His ears reappeared, and his black eyes shrank down to human size. He raised a clawed hand, but Bole gently pushed it back down. "Quiet, you're all right now," the Slytherin told him, as Madame Pomfrey took over. Bole went to stand apart from the others, who were also giving him odd looks now.

"His wing is broken at the shoulder," she diagnosed.

"'His wing'?" Poynter exclaimed. "WING?!"

"Go_**, now**_," Harry Potter told them all coldly, pointing to the Castle. He then Summoned the fragmented broomsticks for analysis later. The students set off, but many looked back over their shoulders and whispered:

"_Those ears on Bole?"_

"_I heard Veelas were like…"_

"Thought Slytherin didn't admit that…" "I heard two of the 'Puffs are…"

"_The one got sick."_

"_He had a tail yesterday!"_

"_I saw it!"_

"_Wonder if anyone else is?"_

"_Shouldn't allow part-Humans to…"_

"Gove, _you_ stay!" Harry added, grabbing him by the collar.

"Sir?"

"Your eyes are yellow, and your fangs are showing," Harry informed him.

Magnus gasped, covering his mouth and looking down. "But this wasn't supposed to happen!" He chirped in surprise.

Sebastian was whimpering.

"Don't try and move it, or shape-shift it," Madame Pomfrey advised. "Boudica, do you have something he can take for pain? I know he can't have…"

"…I do," Madame Iceni replied, pulling a small phial from her robes. "I thought this might be needed." She tipped some of the potion into Sebastian's mouth, which was slowly returning to normal.

"It was amazing! He just changed and we _flew_!" Ewan choked it out.

"I believe this one is all right," Headmaster Weasley diagnosed.

"You _fell_," Jones corrected him.

"With style!" Ewan beamed. "Can we do it again?"

"**NO**!" Everyone shouted at him.

"Thank you, _Doctor_ Weasley, for Ewan's diagnosis, but I'll want him for observation," Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes, scanning Sebastian with her wand. "This is a _nasty_ piece of work," she added.

"I…I know," Sebastian closed his eyes. "I…I'm s-sorry."

"Sorry for _what_?" Hugo demanded. "For saving another boy's life? Although you might have given your teachers a chance, you know? Are you sure you didn't Sort into Gryffindor?" He smiled.

"Th-they…they all saw me," Sebastian coughed again, as his head lolled with the effects of the potion.

"They can get over it," Harry snorted, conjuring a bag and handing it to Magnus. Hugo conjured a stretcher for Ewan as Harry levitated the broken broomsticks into the bag. He then gently hoisted Sebastian over his shoulder as Madame Pomfrey held a Spell on his broken wing.

"Come along, Gove, and tell me all about it," Harry told the perplexed boy.

Then Madame Iceni spotted Magnus and blinked. "So, I hear you can cook?" She asked him, as if nothing at all were wrong.

There were three empty beds in the First Year Boys' dormitory that evening. As Magnus and Rigel tried to concentrate on their homework. Magnus still had no idea why Harry Potter had wanted to hear his version of what had happened, but the boy had been truthful. That, and Harry had saved him from Madame Pomfrey's "observations". He had recited it all as best he could remember from all his excitement, and Harry had seemed pleased. Magnus still thought about asking him why he'd trusted him with his secret identity, but seeing the look on his face, Magnus had decided that right then wasn't a good time to inquire.

Around dinnertime, they finally gave up on their homework. The smells coming from the kitchen were overpowering, and Magnus couldn't resist.

"You can't help the House Elves cook!" Rigel exclaimed, "They'll be offended!"

"I've got to do _something_," Magnus countered, as his eyes lit up.

"What there, Goldeneye?" Rigel asked, grinning at him.

"I need to bake some cupcakes, or Fairy Cakes, as father calls them," Magnus replied. "Oh, I _do _hope they have fresh unsalted butter!" He fretted.

"You's needs to do's what?" Sonny the Elf asked for the third time, wringing his hands and worrying about turning a student loose in their kitchen. The Elves in general were all still debating it.

"Go and see Rónán, we'll be fine," Magnus assured him.

"You're going to make cupcakes?" Rigel wondered.

"Get me a flour sifter, would you?" Magnus answered him.

The Hufflepuffs were conspicuous in their absence at dinner. There was random chatter in the Great Hall, and the buzz of the evening was about the excitement at flying lessons. Rumors abounded amongst the students, as it seemed that quite a few Part-Human secrets were now out.

At the end of the Slytherin table, Lucas Bole picked at his dinner alone.

On his way back to the Dungeons, he met up with Madame Iceni, his Head of House.

"You know," she offered, "I don't think Slytherin has had a Part-Human in over a hundred years. I'm trying to remember who it was."

"Probably a werewolf, Ma'am," Bole answered.

"Could have been a vampire," Iceni replied. "Give it some time, Lucas," she patted his shoulder, then took a left turn to her office.

There was a small plate hovering in front of the door with a cupcake on it.

After a thorough scan with her wand, and a dozen revealing Spells, Madame Iceni declared it safe. There was a note under the small confection: "Yes, I can cook. 'Round midnight." There was also a badger emblem on the note.

"How very strange," she mused, taking a bite. It was chocolate with cherry frosting. "Midnight?" She repeated.

*  
Lucas Bole noticed that the Slytherin Common Room was nearly empty as he arrived. A few of the older students got up and left as he entered, but he ignored them. In fact, not one upperclassman had spoken to any of their three new First Year boys yet. As he entered the dormitory, he met Adams and Poynter on the way out.

"We're off to library, for that Charms paper, just so you know," they informed him, but they also didn't ask him to join them.

Lucas sat down on his bed. He reached over to the bureau for a quill and parchment to write home, intending to tell his mother all about his day and how the secret was out. In fact, he hadn't even bothered to write home to tell his parents about making Slytherin. His father, he knew would be proud. His mother? Lucas wasn't so sure about that.

There was a Fairy Cake sitting on the bureau, and under it was a note with a badger emblem: "Stroke the banana, tickle the pear, and squeeze the melons. 'Round midnight," the note read.

It was a chocolate cupcake with cherry frosting.

"But how did he get it in here?" Lucas wondered, scratching at his pointed ear.

Sebastian awoke in Hospital to find himself in bed. His right arm was in a sling, and he'd somehow changed back to Human form, although he didn't remember doing it. His arm was strapped to his side, his wrist braced right down to the fingertips to keep it immobile, and it hurt terribly.

He sighed heavily.

"Now the whole school knows," he muttered, turning his head to hide his face in the pillow.

"Of course they do!" Ewan exclaimed, which made Sebastian jump. That hurt, too.

"That was simply wicked!" Rónán agreed from his bed across the way.

"What'r you two doing here?" Sebastian mumbled.

"Observation," Ewan groaned. "And it's true what they say about hospital food!"

"It's the same food as in the Hall!" Madame Pomfrey shouted at him from her office.

"Good ears, that one," Rónán observed. "She got me for puking."

"The Pastille?" Sebastian had to ask.

"Yeah, she doesn't believe me," Rónán explained. "And she forced dog dewormer down my throat! Can you imagine? What do I look like?"

"A Belgian Shepherd, at the moment," Sebastian answered honestly. "You were asleep, no?"

"Yeah."

"We gotta get outta here," Ewan pondered it.

Then he saw the three small cakes on the trolley amongst the medical supplies. Very carefully, he slid out of bed and examined them. "Hufflepuff stationary," he observed, nibbling at the cake. "It's from Magnus!"

"Read the note!" Rónán hissed at him.

"It says, '_'round midnight, we're scoffing. The yellow cake is for Rónán. No chocolate_.'"

"Now how do we get out?" Sebastian wondered.

**End Notes****:**

**Other Firsties & Friends**:

Aidan Adams – Slytherin

_?_Poynter – Slytherin Firstie, boy, best friend with Adams

Lucas Bole – Slytherin Firstie, ½ Sprite

_?_Harper – Slytherin girl, knows Rigel

Fiona Finnigan – Gryffindor

Laddie Lawrence – Gryffindor

_?_Jordan – Gryffindor, Lee's descendant, bald

Garrett Alcott – RC Firstie, can carbonate water

Vivienne Gaines – girl – Ravenclaw

Helene Malfoy – sister of Rigel – 2nd Year Ravenclaw

Marjorie MacMillan – Hufflepuff Prefect

Weasley Twins – 3rd Year Gryffindors, Rigel's cousins, descendants of George…Freddie…on down

Daniel Tristan Birken: 2nd Year HP, home friend of Magnus

Liam Creevey: 2nd Year HP, friend to Daniel

Ross: Irish boy: with Daniel & Liam Sorting

Aries – Centaur colt, male, 11

**1****st**** Year Classes are**:

Charms – Orion Malfoy, former Auror, son of Rose & Scorpius, with Slytherin

Defense Against the Dark Arts – Harry Potter (Henry Griffiths) with Gryffindor

Herbology – Pamona Longbottom, granddaughter of Hannah and Neville, with Slytherin

History of Magic – Binns, with Ravenclaw

lunch

Potions – Madame Boudica Iceni, with Ravenclaw

Transfiguration – Madame Indira Peakes, with Gryffindor

Intro COMC with Maximillian Hagrid, Grandson of Hagrid & Olympe, ½ Giant

Astronomy – all together at midnight

Flying – Jamie Wood and Glyn Jones, all 4 Houses at once

Mr. Smith – the caretaker

Marigold Pomfrey – the nurse

**Other characters**:

Hannah Longbottom, "Gran" from home

Teddy Potter – werewolf, Auror

Artie Weasley – Auror

T. Nott – tried to steal **The Book of Arcane Sorcery** (PB1)

Sonny the old elf

see Wiki page:  wiki/Boudica

Lucian Bole is mentioned as a Slytherin Quidditch player when Harry was in school.


	4. Chapter 4-The Scoffers

4-The Scoffers

A/N: There are several allusions to other media in this chapter. See if you can spot them all! One warning: the boys are going to have some wine after dinner. See end-notes. And don't tell me that _you_ never did it…

'_Hogwarts School of Whitchcraft and Wizzardry was quiet in the nearly full moonlight that covered the campus in its ethrereal glow. Safe inside its halowwed walls, and sneaking alonge its marble halls_…'

"Oh, that's just _rubbish_," Lucas Bole of Slytherin House snorted, as he stuffed the small bit of parchment and self-inking quill into his pocket. The boy was fascinated with all things ink, paper, and writing. In fact, he thought himself a future novelist and poet already at the age of eleven. All he needed, he thought, was a spell-checking quill.

Then he pulled out another small parchment – the one bearing the badger insignia, which he'd found under the mysterious dessert in his dorm room.

He shook his long black hair out of his face. Lucas didn't really fancy having long hair, but there was really no help for it. It hid his ears. His mother liked it, though, as did his grandparents. Sprites, they told him, all had long hair. Lucas' analytical mind pondered this as he tightened the sash of his dressing gown. His hair made him look somewhat like a girl, as it tended to curl at this current length. His father told him it made him look like a famous ancient composer, but, Lucas had no ear for music. That much he'd gotten from his father, although he tried. His violin lessons, however, had been discontinued after being compared to the screeching of a mortally wounded Siren! Well, that and the fact that he was male, even though he thought he didn't really look it.

"Androgynous," he thought of the word, wondering how in the world to spell that one.

The rest, he'd gotten from his mother, with her Sprite-"X" gene being the dominant one in the boy's physical makeup. "At least no one will call me 'pretty boy' anymore, what with Sebastian around," he told himself.

He sighed as he took in the moonlit view through the large windows. The only windows that Slytherin had offered a view of the lake, which was quite lovely on sunny days, and resembled an aquarium complete with occasional Mer-person. He wondered what the view looked like from one of the towers.

As he made his way up to the first floor proper, brushing his hair back off his pointed ears to listen as no Human could, he deemed that level clear. No sign of Caretaker Smith, although he'd heard that the middle aged man was quite agreeable, so long as you didn't make a mess. Now, however, was not the time to test that one.

This action, naturally, set off his mind again. 'Sprite' was a catchall term in some circles of study to encompass all of Elvin Kind, many members of which deemed it pejorative. Wood, water, air, light, dusky, you name it – one term for them all. It was also the name of a Muggle fizzy drink, which Lucas rather liked. But Lucas rather liked the word when he thought of House Elves, which were technically Brownies (in his book) and not Elves at all. No Elf ever refused clothes; that was undignified. Even his pyjamas were finely cut and made of real silkworm silk and not that synthetic stuff. Cotton made him itch, but real wool (oddly enough) was his next choice of material. No, the House Elves were Brownies, plain and simple. He considered himself a Sprite; it just sounded better.

Lucas Fëanor Bole found it all very strange. He was, for some reason, suddenly reminded of that fellow almost two centuries before that had met up with some Elves and even made a study of their history. In fact, he'd gone on to write famous novels of fiction about them interacting with Humans. His own interactions, though, weren't going so well as the stories. This was one reason that he was embracing the term "Sprite" and not Elf. His roommates were having a heyday comparing him to the House Elves.

Things had gone well enough with Adams and Poynter at first, but he quickly realized that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to reveal his non-Human heritage to them. Their conversation that first night had taught him that much, but since his great?-grandfather had been a Slytherin and famous Quidditch player, he was all right with them. And so many thought that such blood-prejudice had been extinguished some time ago…

He thought about the Hufflepuffs again.

It was no secret that Greyson, the tiny ginger boy, was a werewolf. After all, when one looked like an Anime Furry character, it was sort of a dead giveaway. And of course, Lucas had spotted the Veela in that French Fournier boy right off. The old saying went that 'it takes one to know one' and part-Humans certainly _could _do that. Then there was the Malfoy boy. Lucas wasn't sure what was going on with him. Given his size, and the state of his hair, Lucas thought he might be part Borrower – tiny little Humans only a few centimeters tall that lived in the walls of humans' houses. He dismissed that notion, though, since there was no possible way those two species could breed. Maybe he just had wild hair? Scott, he knew, was fully Human. But the Gove boy?

He looked at the note again, inviting him to come scoffing 'round midnight. It was Gove's handwriting, all right. He'd seen it when they'd turned in their papers in class. Scoffing was a verb. Gove was a Hufflepuff, hence the stationery. The note had arrived with a Fairy Cake. Cupcake. Whatever. Lucas suppressed a snicker at the thought. Fairies didn't make cakes, and they were quite the disagreeable lot, almost as bad as Leprechauns. Hardly a chance they'd invite you out, contrary to how stories depicted them.

Was Malfoy part Leprechaun, then? 'Nahhhhh…' Lucas dismissed it.

So 'scoffing' had to do with desserts, which one ate, and that had to mean to meet up with Gove in the kitchens, he puzzled it out.

But _Gove_?

Lucas had noticed his two canine teeth when he smiled, and Gove smiled a lot. He'd noticed the very slight tips of his ears, and hadn't the Hufflepuff's eyes been golden yellow when he'd gotten excited on the Pitch with the runaway broom fiasco?

"Incomplete werewolf, that one, I'll wager," Lucas told himself, as he crossed the length of the ground floor to head down to the kitchens where the Hufflepuff quarters were located.

"Why didn't I ask for Ravenclaw?" Lucas thought. "Because you can't spell, _or_ sleep," he reminded himself. Staying awake, though, he reasoned, was probably in his best interests just then. Hard to tell what Adams and Poynter might do to him if he slept.

But weren't they an odd lot, Magnus and them, his mind ran on, as it always did. There they were, the Hufflepuffs, a hodgepodge of misfits, yet always smiling and chattering and seeming the best of friends after only a few days? A Veela, a Werewolf, a Human, a …something or other…and the Muggleborn maybe-a-werewolf-Gove? How was it that they all fit together so well, when the fact that coming out as a Sprite had seemingly alienated Lucas from his entire House? What he _supposed _to have done? Wait for his painfully slow professors to act, and let the boys drown?

He rounded a corner, pulling his foot back just in time as the toe of his slipper vanished into a Quicksand Floor Tile. About fifty years ago, he'd read, **Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes** had invented them and made a fortune in selling them to magical academies 'round the world. The concept was simple – at a preset time, the stones would turn into quicksand and trap anyone who stepped 'in' one. Once your leg was about knee-deep, it would then turn back to stone, trapping you. Then, at another preset time, they'd solidify for the day's routine.

"I must be mad," Lucas told himself, "sneaking out to 'scoff'. " He'd analyzed the note thoroughly, but he was sure that it wasn't a trick. It had come from Hufflepuff, his Prefect had told him. It was on a bit of Madame Longbottom's stationary, which could not easily be forged, and certainly not by the level of student magic. So the invitation was real. From a 'Puff. Lucas snorted at the thought. That was what Adams and Poynter called the Hufflepuffs. That, and some other unkind names.

But at least his Prefect had talked to him. That was something.

Still, he'd brought the note along just in case he was caught out of bed. If he were going down, then the note-writer was going down with him. It was a very Slytherin thing to do. "Oh bollocks!" He then gasped, covering his mouth quickly lest he give himself away.

He pulled back a bare foot*. The Quicksand Tile had claimed his slipper.

There was no help for it, he knew, as he watched the slipper sink out of sight. Lucas wondered what else was trapped in that stone?

The tapestry of the fruit bowl slid aside as Lucas squeezed the melons, after hesitating only a moment with a snicker.

They'd invited him, and that meant something too.

The door opened, and the smell of baking things was intoxicating.

Five boys in black and yellow pyjamas were making a mess of the Elves' (Brownies'!) kitchen. Rigel Malfoy was stirring a bowl of batter enthusiastically, throwing it all over and into even his wild hair. Ewan Scott had flour all over him, and almost looked like a Ghost. Rónán Greyson was spreading icing over some completed cakes, and it looked like all over his face as well. Sebastian Fournier, his arm still in a sling, had an oven mitt on his good hand and was patiently waiting by the ovens. Magnus Gove had a large white bag of some kind, and was injecting what appeared to be cream into the cooled cakes for Rónán to frost.

There were chocolate cakes, yellow, white, and deep pink, each with a different icing. Rónán, it seemed, was being creative in his combinations of flavors. "Need a new fat-bag yet, Mag?" He asked, as Magnus filled the cakes.

Lucas cleared his throat.

"Lucas, you made it!" Gove greeted him cheerily. _Magnus_…he mentally corrected himself. Hufflepuffs called one another by their first names, usually.

"You didn't invite the _other_ two, did you?" Rigel looked up sharply.

"No, Sonny only took that one invitation to Lucas," Magnus replied, flicking his wand at the counter. A cake floated over to Lucas. "I _love_ magic!" Magnus declared.

"Hang on, can Water Sprites eat chocolate?" Rónán piped up.

Lucas stopped in mid-bite, his face going a bit pink. "Yeah, the only thing we don't eat is fish. It's too much like eating a relative."

"I've thought about that," Rigel smiled.

"I jus' asked 'cause I can't," Rónán added, sensing Lucas' discomfort. "I didn't mean to…it makes _me_ ill."

"I know," Lucas cut him off, "It's just…"

"They giving you a rough time, now that they know?" Ewan asked.

Lucas just nodded, his mouth full of cake. It was wonderful!

"Where's the Brownies, erm, House _Elves_?" Lucas then asked, "Letting you demolish their kitchen like this?"

"Sleeping in our room," Sebastian answered, "They only sleep a couple hours, high strung like they are. Took forever to convince them." He then pulled another tray of cakes from the oven while Lucas explained the difference between the two species as Elves vs. Brownies. They all agreed that "Sprite" was a much catchier term.

Lucas was watching as Magnus took another hot pan from Sebastian with his bare hand in a puff of steam that cooled the cakes at once. "How'd you do that?!"

"No idea," Magnus replied, "Must be a gift?"

"It's wandless magic, is what it _is_!" Rigel gasped, "Not many can do that!"

Magnus was then obliged to tell them all about the first time his magic had slipped out and nearly frozen his heavy whipping cream. They all shared their own first experiences, and had a good laugh at Rigel's tale of how he'd made his sister's birthday cake keep sliding across the table away from her when he'd been seven years old.

Ewan had accidentally made a Muggle vending machine start shooting fizzy drink bottles out like missiles when he'd been eight and his father wouldn't buy him one.

Then there were Sebastian, Rónán, and Lucas, of course.

"I feel so…_ordinary_," Rigel commented, after hearing about Sebastian's and Rónán's instructions in shape shifting and Lucas' first time of finding that he could breathe underwater.

"So you're not…?" Lucas wondered of Rigel.

"Nope, human, and not even an inbred Pureblood!" Rigel declared proudly, showing them his ears. "All thanks to my Gran Hermione being Muggleborn!"

"You're related to the Weasleys?" Lucas recalled.

"Isn't everyone?" Rigel laughed.

"And you were _ten_ when you found out you were Magical?" Lucas asked Magnus.

"Late bloomer, I wonder?" Magnus wondered.

"I wonder too," another voice added, and they all looked up to see Madame Boudica Iceni in the doorway. She was holding up a slipper with a green embroidered "B" on it, looking the boys over. "I believe this is yours?" She observed of Lucas. Then she handed her invitation to Magnus.

The boys froze, all except for Magnus. "Glad you could make it, Miss!" He greeted her, getting the door and pulling a chair.

"Are you _mad_?!" Rigel spluttered at Magnus. "You invited a _teacher_?"

"'Miss'?" Lucas wondered.

"She may be a teacher, but she's still a lady," Magnus explained.

"Thanks for noticing, Gove! Well, technically, you're not sneaking out of bounds, as your Common Room is right over there, and the passworded door is over there," she nodded to the doorway, taking a cake from Magnus. "Took me a while to deduce what _this _was, though," she indicated the Hufflepuff stationery. "I thought that Pamona might be up for a girls' night on the town!"

And she smiled at them.

The boys just stared at her.

"This is very good," she commented of the cake. "I _am _curious as to your intriguing choice of invitations, though. Anyone else coming?"

Rigel checked the clock. "Uncle Hugo will probably be along in two hours or so. It's a Weasley thing."

"No others, not yet, Miss, you're the first," Magnus informed them. Madame Iceni was still looking at him, though, with that expression that said '_and why invite me_?'

The boys all looked at Magnus.

"I…I just thought you…might like it," Magnus offered, pouring some cold milk. "After the thing with the fizzy drinks in your class? And how it wasn't _really_ a detention, was it, Ma'am?" Magnus paused. "And, well, you kinda seemed like you needed it, Ma'am?"

Madame Iceni considered him for a moment. The others were surely thinking 'expulsion'.

"Thank you, Gove," she then said, and that imposing classroom presence that had frightened them all in their very first Potions class instantly vanished. She then turned to Lucas. "And you didn't think for a minute that you might be walking into a trap?"

Lucas shook his head. "Well, for just _a_ minute," he held up the invitation, "But that wouldn't be a very Hufflepuff thing to do, would it?"

"How very Slytherin of you," Rigel commented. "I'd have done the same thing though!"

"Your father is still quite perplexed on your Sorting, Malfoy," Madame Iceni informed him, helping herself to another cake – this one yellow with chocolate icing. "I was certain that _I'd _get you, to be honest, I was hoping." She turned back to Lucas. "_You_ were a big surprise, though. I was certain, knowing your mum, that you'd go into Ravenclaw."

"Surprised Adams and Poynter, too," Lucas shrugged. "Thanks," he added, looking at Magnus.

"I think you'll find quite a few of the older students might be impressed with the lead in points that your actions in saving Scott's and Fournier's lives gave Slytherin House," Madame Iceni informed him, and Lucas smiled.

"Yeah, at least you're not doing dishes for the rest of term," Magnus sighed.

"Be glad you weren't _expelled_ for starting that fight!" She reminded him, "And don't judge a House by the actions of a few of its members," Madame Iceni reminded them. "Every House here has its share of … _idiots_," she finally chose the word, which made the boys laugh. "Thank you again," she added, grabbing a napkin, "But I have to stop this before I gain five pounds! Besides, I've got rounds. I think I'll hit the Astronomy Tower."

"Why?" Ewan asked.

"Never mind," the professor waved him off, as she got up to leave. "Oh, and Gove?"

"Ma'am?"

"He _deserved_ it," Madame Iceni said on her way out the door.

"Well, _that_ was…interesting," Sebastian commented.

"Yeah, it was," Lucas agreed, "Now all I have to do is sneak back to my House."

"Why don't you stay the night?" Ewan offered. "She knows where you are, and you didn't even get punished for being out!"

"You mean that?" Lucas exclaimed. "Is that even _allowed_?"

"So, are all you Sprites this chatty?" Rónán asked.

"Well… yes," Lucas offered shyly.

"Odd boy," Madame Iceni wondered, as she began her hunt for midnight snoggers. "Hmmmm, scoffing?" She wondered.

Students and staff alike were very surprised the next morning to find some odd additions to their breakfast menu. There were thin sweet cakes, which Sebastian compared to crepes. Many also found it odd as well that there was a dessert course following breakfast.

In the kitchens directly below the Great Hall, the House Elves were quite perplexed. Sonny had his hands full trying to explain to them that it was all right to have a student help them, and that "he's having detentions and has to!"

There were also five very sleepy boys at the Hufflepuff table, but one very chipper one alone at the Slytherin table.

"It was worth it, though," Ewan declared, as he grabbed a chocolate cake.

"These are better than Maman makes," Sebastian commented, spreading more jam and syrup over his plate of 'crepes'.

_**SPLAT!**_

"Uh oh," Rigel breathed, noting that poor little Rónán had gone facedown in his plate. "Guess we shouldn't have kept him up most of the night?"

"Erm, guys?" Ewan pointed out, holding up their schedule. "How's he gonna do Astronomy tonight if he's…you know…?" the plump boy left it hanging, pointing out that Rónán had his hood up again and his canine teeth were protruding over his lower lip.

Rigel raised an eyebrow. "Your wolf is showing," he commented. Then he looked at Magnus. "Thought you had _brown _eyes, Mag?"

Magnus stopped scratching his scarred arm. "I _do_, why?"

"_No _you don't," Sebastian pointed out, "And stop scratching it, you'll only make it worse!"

"You sure you're _totally_ cured?" Daniel Birken reminded him, as Liam Creevey choked on his milk when he saw Magnus' eyes. "_You_ did this, didn't you?" He added, holding up a cake. Magnus nodded. "And you didn't invite us?"

"Slipped my mind in all the rush," Magnus apologized.

"You know, my great-something uncle was an Animagus wolf," Liam put in, "That would be _so _cool!" They all just stared at him. "What?"

"Pain in the arse," Rónán mumbled, turning his face, which was now covered in jam.

"It's gonna be a lonnnnng day," Sebastian predicted, "Good thing I am a…how do you say…'lefty'?" He shifted his sling, which set them all into recounting the previous day's excitement.

Fortunately for Rónán, but not the other boys, their teachers were very understanding of the young werewolf's condition. The others, however, lost a few points for falling asleep in class. Professor Binns didn't notice, though, so it was a good nap. Magnus was surprised, however, to find Professor Potter holding him after DADA. "In my office, tonight, Magnus," he told the perplexed boy. "Five o'clock, should be easy for you to remember, no? Bring Greyson, too."

At six, Magnus and Rónán found two men waiting with Harry Potter in his office. Both boys recognized Teddy Lupin and his godson, Teddy Potter, right off.

"I didn't do it!" Rónán assured the Auror, who greeted Magnus warmly.

"Sorry to have to tell you, boys, but you're missing Astronomy tonight," Lupin informed them.

"Circumstances being what they are," Teddy Potter grinned at them. "You manage to get a nap in?"

"Yes, sir, in History class," Rónán answered, and Magnus knew at once why they were there. He'd already had to stop by the Hospital Wing to get some ointment for his arm, as it had been driving him mad with itching all day long.

"Thought you said he was all right?" Harry demanded of Teddy Lupin, whose hair turned pink in embarrassment.

"Guess I didn't get _all_ of the toxin after all," Teddy Lupin reasoned, "Corrupted a chromosome here and there, perhaps?"

"What?! What's _wrong _with me?!" Magnus squeaked.

Teddy Potter offered him a mirror.

"Oh, shite!" Magnus blurted. "I've got a mustache!" Then it hit him. "Am I going to change into a wolf?"

"I hope not, it's no fun the hard way," Rónán reminded him, having not even bothered to try and pull in his tail.

"You eating here, or are we going out to eat?" Teddy Lupin asked Rónán.

"Out, please," Rónán decided, tail wagging. "I've got a craving for rabbit."

"Out?" Magnus asked. Then it hit him. "OH!"

"You're staying here," Teddy Potter informed him. "Just in case."

Magnus was, by this point, trembling. He watched as Teddy Lupin ordered Rónán to change form, and the small boy let out a hard sigh of relief when he did it. He flowed fluidly into the form of a small reddish wolf, then turned in a circle as if checking himself over as he stepped out of his discarded clothing.

"That's called cheating, but the natural way is quite painful," Teddy Lupin told Magnus. "_You_, Mag old boy, on the other paw," he grinned, "Well, that's why we're here. Most of the time, the side effects are only temporary, but it looks like you're going to have some good ones!"

"I…I don't wanna be a wolf!" Magnus squeaked.

"Give him the Animous Potion," Rónán barked in suggestion.

Magnus stared at him. "He's…he's talking?"

"You can understand him?" Teddy Potter asked, squirming a bit. "Grandfather, I need to get this over with, too," he added.

"Leave me the bottle, and the boy," Harry suggested. "I'll summon you if there's any problems."

"_Problems_?!" Magnus squeaked again, quite comically at that, "Problems?! _Look at me_!" He pointed at his face, which was by now, in need of a shave.

"Sort of looks like hypertrichosis**, doesn't it?" Harry mused, as his "grandson" changed form as well. He sent the two wolves out the back way that he'd devised for his office, while Teddy Lupin checked Magnus over with his wand.

"Looks like this is as far as he's going," Teddy nodded, his golden eyes unfocused as if studying something far off. "Unless you _want _to go all the way, Magnus? It's up to you?"

"NO!" Magnus declared. "No offense, sirs," he added thoughtfully.

"You want to go down to dinner looking like that?" Harry asked him.

"No," Magnus decided, wondering whatever would they all think? "But does 'going out to eat' mean what I think it does?"

"We're taking Rónán out for hunting lessons," Teddy informed him.

"Pass!" Magnus exclaimed, images that he'd rather not have had suddenly filling his head.

Then Teddy Lupin changed form into a magnificent gray wolf and left as well.

"Isn't he quite old?" Magnus asked.

"Much older than I am, as Henry, or so the world thinks," Harry answered. "He's a Metamorph, and a werewolf. He ages very slowly, as the transformations rebuild him every month. That, and he can appear just as he likes. He's an excellent shape shifter. When he was a boy, he'd already mastered morphing his face into perfect copies of his cousin so they could pretend they were twins."

"Please, sir, I've been wondering," Magnus got up the courage to ask, "If you're not really Harry Potter, why didn't you all wipe my memory like old Harry wanted to that night?"

As his teacher sat down at his desk and took his wand from his pocket, pushing it aside, Magnus saw the subtle shift in his appearance. Suddenly, there was a different person sitting at the desk. Not so much different, but definitely not Harry Potter.

He laughed.

"Harry's getting very old, even for a wizard," Henry Griffiths explained. "Naturally, he's the Secret Keeper of this grand lie. You know what that is?" Magnus didn't. Henry explained the Fidelious Charm. "He's not going to live forever, so, we came to the conclusion that we need a new one."

"A new secret, or a new Harry Potter?"

"Both."

"You mean _me_?!" Magnus squeaked yet again.

Henry nodded, looking him right in the eye. Then he laughed. "You sure you don't want the potion? Make you into a counterfeit werewolf? You could change form any time you wanted to. Lupin's shortcut to the Animagus Spell!" He gave the bottle a shake. "Instant wolf in a bottle?"

"_No_, sir! But why _me_? Isn't that a big job, keeping your secret identity from the world?"

"It _is_," Henry agreed seriously. "But you, my boy, are something special, Harry thinks. And so does Gran Hannah. For one, you're a Muggleborn, who's not related to anyone here! Do you know how hard it is to find a date who's not your cousin when you're a Weasley, Potter, or Malfoy?"

"Rigel says you all have an awfully big family," Magnus agreed. "But how do you know I can do it, sir?"

"Well, for starters, you're eleven, and in Hufflepuff House. No one would think to look there, I wonder? And besides, if you did let slip, who'd _believe_ it?" Henry asked.

"What?" Magnus gasped, feeling insulted a bit.

"Not what I meant," Henry went on. "Think about it, Magnus. Did anyone believe you when you were finding all those odd things out about Godric's Hollow? Anyone but Hannah?"

"No," Magnus admitted dismally. "Not even my dad."

"My point," Henry smiled. "Magnus, I hate to tell you, but I must. You were set up."

"_**What**_?!"

"Hannah and I were planting things for you to find. Of course she knew you were Magical, long before even you did. We just had to bring it out a bit, since you seemed to be a late bloomer. The werewolf attack, now _that_ was a random accident."

"You left the candy for me, and the coins?" Magnus wondered. "Erm, thank you?" He added thoughtfully. "But I could have done without the Acid Pop!"

"You may not want to thank me yet," Henry informed him. "You see, Magnus, not even my "grandson" Teddy Potter knows that I'm really the boy he grew up with. The whole family thinks that Henry Griffiths, the boy that Harry and Ginny Potter adopted, up and pursued a career overseas, traveling the world, and all such exciting things. Not even Hugo knows."

"The Headmaster?!" Magnus was just awed. "But why not? Why lie to your own family?"

Henry sighed and leaned back. When he grabbed the holly wand to summon them some Butterbeers, Magnus saw the subtle change back into Harry Potter – just like on the Trading Cards.

"Ever hear of something called '**Project Potter Beyond'**?" Henry asked.

Of course, Magnus hadn't. He couldn't believe that the real Harry's best friends, his relatives, even an old enemy (Rigel's great-great-something-grandfather, even!) would attempt to clone him without telling him and turn some poor little unsuspecting boy into the next "Harry Potter"!

And so it was that Henry explained it all. It was much later when he was done, and Magnus was quite hungry by then.

It was a great deal for the boy to take in, especially on an empty stomach. And it frightened him that his teacher had trusted him with such an enormous secret.

"I can see why they did it, sir," the boy reasoned, "What with how bad this Lord Voldemort and his followers were. You're like a superhero! Sort of like Batman!"

Henry cringed.

"Ah, no," he offered, as they headed for the kitchen, "But that's what a lot of people think. That's what we _want_ them to think." He paused, sighing again. He looked hard at Magnus. "Every superhero needs a sidekick, though…right?"

"I see!" Magnus smiled, nodding. Then he blinked. "Don't think I'm putting on that Robin costume, though!"

Henry laughed, being a Muggle comics fan, he knew what the boy meant. "But for now, think about it. And don't tell anyone else, right? Now, how about something to eat?" Henry suggested.

Seeing the Hogwarts kitchen during mealtime was something for Magnus. Platters and bowls of food were vanishing, each in a shimmer of blue light that reminded him very much of his favorite science fiction series. When an empty platter would appear on the worktable, another filled one would vanish to take its place above.

The House Elves, of course, were delighted to see them and immediately began serving them pot roast with all the trimmings. Magnus looked at it critically: the meat, the carrots, small onion, potato, celery, all done to perfection and seasoned just so. He was surprised at that.

The _au jus_ was missing.

"The _whats_?" An older, somewhat nervous Elf named Tweaky asked.

"Let me show you," Magnus offered, as Henry, now Harry again, looked on.

"For starters, I'll need one cup of beef drippings, with fat, fifteen ounces of the beef's broth, one-quarter cup water, warm. One tablespoon cornstarch, one-quarter teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet, a half teaspoon of onion and herb seasoning, and a half teaspoon of seasoned salt."

Tweaky blinked and snapped his fingers, handing the boy a bouquet of fall flowers and a salt shaker.

"No, no, no!" Magnus laughed, "a browning and seasoning sauce made of caramel with vegetable flavor. It's for gravies and such, since 1879?"

Tweaky just stared at him.

"Brown sugar, caramel, water, maybe some vegetable oil, and a touch of Worcestershire?" Magnus rattled off his list.

"Ah, thems we gots!" Tweaky nodded happily.

"Is there _anything _you don't know about food?" Harry had to ask, grinning, as the Elves took notes and then duplicated the sauce from the existing ingredients.

"Very little, sir, I come from a long line of chefs," Magnus replied, taking matters into his own hands.

When he was done, Magnus was satisfied with his au jus and sat down to eat after he'd sent some on up to the Hall above. He suggested that Professor Potter have some red wine with his meal.

"So, is you a weerwoof what gets stuck?" Tweaky had to ask.

Magnus blinked and touched his cheek. He'd totally forgotten about that!

"What's for dessert?" Magnus changed the subject.

They were having various fruit pies, which Magnus couldn't really criticize – except that he found the crust not quite as flaky as his own, and they could have used more sugar. He made a mental note that their next scoffing adventure would be that, with freshly whipped cream. After all, a Gove would never approve of that aerosol canned stuff!

All too soon, however, it was time to do dishes. Magnus was still at it when his friends, sans Rónán, arrived.

"Having fun there, Mag?" Ewan snickered.

Then they all froze when they saw his face, and Professor Potter, but no one said a thing about it.

"Fun, _right_?" Ewan repeated, smiling again. "That was a wicked dinner, especially the sauce!"

"Of course! Look at all this stuff!" Magnus smiled, holding up a colander and a potato masher. "Can you imagine what we can accomplish in here?"

The Elves all just looked at him.

"You boys have your fun. Think about what I said, Magnus," Harry took his leave of them. "Excellent nosh, all!"

"'nosh'?" Tweaky wondered.

"'we'?" Sebastian asked of Magnus.

"Hold this," Magnus handed the rinsed colander to Rigel. "Now what this does, is…" he began to explain, shoving a large towel at Rigel.

As Magnus talked and washed, Rigel dried after Ewan rinsed. Sebastian handed utensils and plates, one at a time, to any Elf that would take them. In minutes, it was just like an assembly line.

"HEY! _We're_ not the ones with detention!" Ewan finally noticed.

"But isn't it fun?" Magnus exclaimed. "At least we're not shoveling manure with Hagrid like Adams is!"

"Barking mad, _that _one," Rigel snorted, as they cleaned up. When they were done, the Elves didn't know what to do.

"That was fast," Tweaky observed. "Now what?"

"Take the night off," Magnus suggested, and the Elves all froze for a moment. They then began vanishing as they Apparated away.

"You realize you just turned the House Elves loose on the town?" Rigel gasped.

"Speaking of barking," Magnus shrugged, pouring himself a glass of the leftover wine.

"You'll get us all expelled!" Ewan exclaimed.

"_Why_? It is just wine," Sebastian pointed out, giving it a sniff. "Very nice bouquet!" He sipped it. "This is a strong Shiraz. Maybe too much for _you_?" The French boy grinned.

"Finally!" Magnus smiled, offering a toast. "The Scoffers!"

"**The Scoffers**!" They all agreed.

"Too bad we don't have any beer," Rigel added with a smirk.

**Endnotes**

If the idea of the boys having a glass of wine upsets you, you're obviously living in a primitive, backward, and paranoid culture. Move.

**Did you catch all the allusions? **

*Allusion to "Tom's Midnight Garden", the movie, for one.

**  w/page/1991874/Hypertrichosis-%20Introduction%20and%20Types%20-%202

**Characters **listed in chapter 3 endnotes. Links verified safe with Malwarebytes AntiMalWare security software.


	5. Chapter 5-Building a Mystery

5-Building a Mystery

Weekends, any student could tell you, were for sleeping in, and the Scoffers were no exception.

Fortunately for the Firsties, someone years ago had had the good sense to move their midnight Astronomy class to Friday nights*so that they _could_ sleep in. They'd found Professor Thomas Stratton, the current teacher in a long line of Strattons who'd taught the subject, to be quite agreeable. Magnus thought he certainly might be up for a midnight invitation, since Stratton had come up with a quick shaving Charm to hide the embarrassed boy's facial hair. It had lasted just long enough, that was, until Magnus had gotten a good blast of full moonlight on the Astronomy Tower!

Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled. "Sounds like Rónán's having fun," Magnus mused.

The one good thing about this, however, were that Adams and Poynter got another detention for making fun of him, and Fiona Finnigan thought his fur was cute. Magnus wasn't overly sure if the latter was a good thing or not, however.

And so they had missed breakfast on Saturday morning, waking up near lunchtime, and feeling famished.

All of them but one.

If not for the fact that a carefully placed feather from his pillow _did_ in fact move under Rónán's nose, the boys would have sworn that he was dead.

"Eh, jus' leave him there, he'll sleep it off," Rigel suggested.

Magnus, however, made a run for the bathroom and was overjoyed to find that his beard (not to mention an abundance of other hair all over him!) was gone again. "Wow, that was a close one!" He breathed a sigh of relief, patting his shins down just to be sure.

"Yeah, you have to watch those Uncle-Teddy-cures," Rigel warned him, if not a bit late in the game, "Sometimes they tend to blow up in – or on – your face!"

"Wha's wrong with _him_?" Ewan pointed at Rónán, who had been neatly tucked in at some time during the early morning.

"Werewolf hangover," Rigel shrugged. "He was out all night, probably having lots of wolfy fun, but it takes a lot out of them. At least they don't have to do the painful transformation the hard way anymore. Uncle Teddy told us it hurts like hell!"

The boys looked at Rónán again.

"He'll be fine, trust me," Rigel assured them. "I've got enough of them in my extended family to know."

Magnus swallowed hard, and odd little 'gulp' sound. "I wonder how Lucas did after we ate those cakes?" He wondered, with the unspoken consensus being to skip the showers and head straight up to lunch. "We really should study up on Part-Humans so we don't end up killing anyone with a food allergy!"

"Like chocolate and canines," Ewan nodded. "One time, my dog got into the Christmas candy. The veterinary bill was unbelievable!"

"I'm pretty sure that Sprites can handle sugar," Rigel declared, giving Sebastian a look.

"What?" The half-Veela asked innocently.

"It's _you _we shouldn't give chocolate to!" Rigel reminded him, "Let's have another chocolate latte, shall we, Precious?"

Sebastian sighed, but grinned, removing his sling so he could get his pyjama top off. He winced, clearly still in pain. "I don't think we have to worry about that anymore, now that they know how ugly I really am – inside."

"Why isn't that healed by now?" Magnus wondered. "My hand is fine?"

"You are a human, mostly," Sebastian shrugged. "I think I will have to see Maman's physician. I will probably have to go home."

"Have you told Madame P. this yet?" Ewan gasped.

"You _can't_ go home!" Magnus interjected. "Term's only just begun!"

Then he thought of Rónán and _his_ letter to home. He was feeling a touch homesick himself, come to think of it. That, and he still had a letter due any day from his father. He wasn't looking forward to that, since his parents had been notified about him getting extended detention for fighting.

"I wonder if Lucas wants to go home?" Ewan asked. "He said they weren't being very kind to him."

"Now you see why _I _didn't want to be in Slytherin?" Rigel nodded, "And why go home? There's no relatives here in the Cellar!"

"Are they known for being nasty-tempered?" Magnus asked.

"My relatives, or Slytherins, or both?" Rigel grinned.

"The _Slytherins_!" Magnus clarified.

"Check it out in your history book, chapter four," Rigel replied. "Then get back with me." He thought for a moment. "It's not nearly so bad now as it used to be, though. In fact, they say my great-grandfather Draco used to be quite an arse!"

They all just looked at him.

"_What_?!"

"Never mind," Magnus grinned, turning back to Sebastian. "Whatever it is with your arm, mate, we'll help – if we can?" He held up a button-down shirt. Sebastian nodded.

"It would involve…changing the shape," Sebastian said, not quite getting the English words right.

"You mean you'd have to turn into a bird again?" Ewan gasped, wide-eyed, "Cool!"

"It is not so …cool," Sebastian disagreed, "I cannot do it just whenever. I have to be…what is the word?"

"Worked up? Emotional?" Rigel offered. "We can always get the Slytherins to help you with _that_ one!"

As they finished dressing, relieved that uniforms were not required on weekends but for dinner, Magnus helped Sebastian get his sling on again. Then he put on his new Hufflepuff hoodie, which he'd been so very anxious to wear. The blond boy looked to be in pain, though, and they practically had to drag him up to see Madame Pomfrey.

They did notice, on the stairs and in the corridors, that other students sort of cut them a wide berth.

"See?" Sebastian pointed out. "The other day, they were all making dooky eyes at me!"

"'Dewy'," Rigel corrected him, "And don't worry about it."

"Where's the Wolfboy, sleeping it off?" Madame Marigold Pomfrey demanded in greeting, assuming that it must be Sebastian who was in need of her services, as none of the others looked injured. She looked at Magnus. "I see _you're _over it?"

"Yes, thanks," Magnus replied, nodding at Sebastian. "Rónán is fine, just sleeping, very soundly, Ma'am."

"Ah, well good. Just leave him alone until afternoon, then. Still hurts?" Madame Pomfrey asked Sebastian, giving him a quick scan.

Sebastian just nodded.

"I was afraid of this," she said, shoving a spoonful of smoking potion into his mouth, "You broke it in your…ah…other form. It'll have to have some healing time in that form, too." She quickly held up a hand. "Don't blame me! I didn't write the laws of Veela genetics! In fact," she mused, "_Boy_ Veelas are _so_ rare, there's not much about you _to _know. I think I'll give Louis Weasley a call."

Sebastian just nodded again. He sniffled once.

"I have a potion for homesickness, too," the Mediwitch offered. "And hair tonics," she looked right at Rigel.

The boys fled.

Rónán still hadn't awakened by lunchtime, and Magnus was beginning to worry as they entered the Great Hall. They found hot soup and sandwiches, which was perfect for the chilly day. The bread was freshly made, and the Elves had sent up a small grill for them what wanted grilled cheese or toast. For the first time, Magnus didn't complain about the food as he set into grilling.

"Shouldn't we take something back for Rónán?" He worried.

"Considering what he _probably_ ate last night, he'll be fine," Rigel assured him. "And I'm sure Sonny's already in there watching him."

"What would he have eaten?" Ewan wondered.

"Well, it _wasn't_ kibble," Rigel hinted, glancing up in surprise. "Lucas?"

"Hello," Lucas Bole greeted them, looking quite out of place in his emerald green T-shirt and gray shorts and flip-flops.

"Aren't you cold?" Magnus asked.

"It's at least 13 C outside?" Lucas looked confused, "The water's fine!"

"_Sprites_," Rigel grinned. "Rónán's probably warm, too."

"Why?" Ewan asked.

"Some Part-Humans are warmer-blooded than others. Rónán's body temperature, normally, would be around 105F, I think. Normal for a dog or wolf, that is."

"Mind if I join you?" Lucas asked timidly.

"Not at all!" Magnus answered.

"Changing Houses, there, Elf-boy?" Adams called from the Slytherin table.

"Oh, _please_, let _me_ have this one," Miss MacMillan asked the boys, as she leaned over to grab a sandwich from Magnus.

The bread had just blackened a touch on the very edges, and the rest was crisp with cheddar oozing out the sides and onto the plate. It had been grilled with just enough butter to give it a wonderful aroma and greasy feel. "Oh, this just perfect, Mag!" She smiled. "Now, move aside, a bit!"

"Thank you! Oh, by all means?" Magnus agreed.

MacMillian's free hand went under the table to her pocket as she whispered something. Adams' shirt immediately turned scarlet, and a yellow emblem of a lion appeared on the chest. Then the lion roared. "I LOVE GRYFFINDOR!" began scrolling across the front.

"AIIIIIGH!" Adams yelled.

"Lovely soprano voice, there! You're not Italian, are you? Now, do you want to chuck Bludgers with me some more, _Addie_?" MacMillan asked him.

"'Addie'?" His buddy, Poynter wondered with a smile.

Adams fled to change his shirt.

"I'm going to get _so_ much mileage out of this one," Poynter chuckled, eyeing the sandwiches and noticing that they didn't have a grill at their table. In fact, only Hufflepuff did. Magnus offered him a grilled cheese, then he saw the roughly written note:

Sonny figures you is finding something wrong with the lunches! Here is a grilller for yous to use and make things for your friendsses!

"Erm, thanks?" Poynter conceded, confused.

"'Addie'?" Rigel repeated, laughing around a mouthful.

"My mum knows his mum, it's his nickname at home," MacMillan explained, "Nice lady, but she's rather spoiled him. Explains a lot?" She looked at Sebastian. "How's that boo-boo?" She asked him in a patronizing tone.

Sebastian's face went pink. "Hurts, Miss," he offered shyly.

"Don't let it bother you, kid." Their Prefect assured him, patting his free hand, "You're not the first Veela, or the first Part-Human for that matter, you know." Then she seemed to notice Lucas, not bothered at all that there was a Slytherin boy at their table. "You two are going to be fighting off the girls with a Beater's bat in a couple years," she predicted. "Too bad you're not about four years older, Bole," she added, reaching over to brush his black hair off his pointed ear.

"Why?" Lucas asked, going a very-Weasley-shade of pink.

Rigel snickered. "You an only child? No _older _siblings?"

"Yes, why?" Lucas replied.

"_Never_ mind," MacMillan cut him off. "Enjoy your first weekend, but don't forget your homework! If you've not found the library, maybe you can investigate it later?" She hinted.

"Cookbooks!" Magnus gasped.

Rigel plunked his head on the table.

Magnus continued to grill cheese, which attracted more than a few students from the other Houses and a few teachers.

"This is highly unusual," Headmaster Weasley pointed out, as he came to see, "Students cooking at the table? But I'm not complaining!"

"We've got friends in low places, sir," Magnus pointed at the floor.

"See, this is the advantage of having Uncle as the Headmaster," Rigel smiled. "Feed him, and we'll get away with murder!"

"It'll take more than a cheese sandwich to clear you of 'murder in the first', Nephew," Hugo replied, but he was smiling. "Now perhaps something in Red Velvet, with cream cheese icing and…" he mused.

"Say, Mag," Daniel spoke up on his way by with his friends, "We're headed for the Pitch later to practice for Quidditch team tryouts! You lot wanna come?"

"_No_, thanks," Magnus replied quickly, suddenly finding himself to be a short order cook!

**FLASH!**

"Thanks, Liam."

"Can I have one, Mag?" Liam Creevey asked, and Magnus gave him one. Liam bit into it and promptly scorched his tongue! "I've got to round up all the teams, once they're formed, and send to father for more film, and schedule picture day, and … oh, I really shouldn't eat this much cheese, it makes me constipa-…"

"_Too_ much information, Liam!" Daniel interrupted him. "C'mon, Mag, you'll like it, even if you just watch!"

"We really need to cover up our homework," Sebastian added quickly, despite the look of disappointment on his face.

"'catch up,'" Ewan corrected him this time.

"Pity," Daniel patted Magnus' shoulder. "Maybe next time?"

"I'll let you know next time we're scoffing, too," Magnus winked at him.

"Scoffing? What's scoffing, Danny?" Liam was on again, "Is it fun? Is that something you guys from Godric's Hollow do…" his voice trailed off.

"Merlin, I'm tired again, listening to all that!" Rigel sighed. "Does Creevey even come up for air?"

"Hey, mind if we join you, there, Six?" The bald black boy from Gryffindor asked. "Sorry, I just remembered your number!"

"Magnus Gove, and you're…?"

"Aaron Jordan," he introduced himself, "You're cooking? If we don't get this basic Shrinking Solution right for Madame Iceni, she's gonna murder us!" The Gryffindor confessed, wistfully watching Daniel and his friends go. "I hear you're good at potions?"

"Oh, she's not like that at all," Magnus assured him, "She's a very nice lady."

"She scares me," Aaron repeated.

"Me too!" His friend added, in a thick Germanic accent. "She ist so tall and sehr …scary. And she's head of Slytherin, and sie is…" he noticed the grins on the Hufflepuffs' faces. "She's standing right behinter me, _isn't_ she?"

"_She_ is," Madame Iceni smiled at him, as Magnus handed her a sandwich as Aaron's friend slid down almost under the table. "Keep this up, and you're going to make me fat, boy! Five points for Hufflepuff!"

The Gryffindors gulped. Madame Iceni fled with her sandwich.

"And you are?" Magnus asked of Aaron's friend. "I'm sorry, we weren't paying much attention at the Sorting!"

"Erik Bär, just transferred, I was not there," the other Gryffindor introduced himself shyly, as Sebastian's right eyebrow shot up. Magnus sniffed. Rigel's eyes narrowed, as did Lucas'.

"What?" Ewan asked them.

"Where's the kleiner ginger wolfboy?" Erik then asked bluntly, brushing his long brown fringe out of his face. He only had one eyebrow that went all the way across, and his face was slightly pointed, with a strong chin above a stout neck.

"Rónán's _what_?" Ewan asked. "'cleaner'?"

"Klein…small?" Erik repeated.

"You have a _problem_ with Rónán?" Magnus demanded, and Erik stepped back.

"Ach! You're one _too_?" Erik gasped with a sniff.

Magnus flipped a few sandwiches on his grill. "I'm a _what_?"

"**Wolf,**" Lucas coughed obviously into his hand.

"Don't mind him, they don't teach manners at Durmstrang, I don't think," Aaron offered. "He's imported from Germany, like Volkswagens," he joked.

"No, kein problem…it is just that…?" Erik paused.

"Rónán?" Magnus reminded him.

"Ja, him, _he_ might not like _me_, entschul…, I mean, I'm sorry," Erik apologized. "My Polish ist better than mein English."

"Nice eye_brow_," Rigel pointed out. "And your last name is the German word for 'Bear'? From near the border with Poland? Got it," Rigel nodded cryptically. "Have you met Hagrid yet?" He smiled.

Erik looked alarmed.

"What am I missing?" Ewan wondered at all the tension.

Rigel and Erik were still staring at each other. "You might as well say it, Erik," Rigel suggested.

"Either way, they will find out," Sebastian added. "But _we_ won't tell anyone."

"Everyone knows about _you_ lot already!" Aaron laughed. "I kinda feel left out!"

"Me too! You're not _quite_ human, _are_ you, Erik?" Ewan finally got it.

"Nein…no," Erik mumbled, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Erik, you're talking to a Sprite, a Veela, a proto-Werewolf, and a…Malfoy," Lucas supplied helpfully. "I think you sort of fit in here, don't you?

"Thanks, I _think_?" Rigel looked at him. "Hang on! You think I'm a Part-Human, _too_?" Then his face went icy as he realized the joke. "I _am not_ a Leprechaun!" He pushed his bushy hair back and grabbed at his ear. "See that? _Round_! See it…right _there_?!"

"You've got a pot of gold, and the hair for it, though?" Helene Malfoy turned at the Ravenclaw table to remind him. Rigel rolled his eyes.

"_All_ Malfoys have pots of gold," Rigel snorted. "And I _hate_ rainbows and green beer!"

Everyone found this enormously funny, except for Erik, as Lucas apologized.

"Calm down, son," Professor Orion Malfoy suggested, as he passed by on his way to the door, "It happens to the best of us."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?!" Rigel demanded of his father, who just laughed and waved him off as he left with a sandwich. More bread and cheese and butter appeared on the table.

"I _knew_ it!" Lucas declared triumphantly.

"He's jus' messin' with you," Aaron decided, as Magnus handed them sandwiches and began another round.

"Well, he _is_ very small, and he has freckles. Malfoys do _not_ have freckles," Helene added, as she got up to leave the Hall with her friends.

"Oh, go orbit a planet," Rigel muttered. "Everyone's small compared to _you_!"

Then Helene bent down and whispered something in Sebastian's ear. The French boy turned a bit pink. "M-merc_i_," he managed, as Helene's friends waved at him demurely. Sebastian smiled back at them.

"So, your English Mädchen here _like_ P-part-Humans?" Erik asked tentatively.

"Girls? They like _him_, again, I think," Magnus smiled at Sebastian, "Still!" He gently nudged his friend. "Told you so, Sebastian! Really, though – what's wrong with Rónán?" He then reminded the German boy.

"Ich…I…I am like my name. I am a…Werbär." Erik confessed in a whisper. It sounded like "_ver_-bare".

"A _what_?" Magnus wondered.

"Werebear," Lucas clarified. "Just like a werewolf, only _he_ turns into a bear. They usually don't gain the ability until age eight, and can shift at will, moon or not."

"And werewolves and werebears naturally hate each other. It's more common the further east you go, and Durmstrang's full of 'em. Probably a Russian thing," Rigel added. They all looked at him. "What? You grow up around _Hagrid_, you learn these things!"

"Who ist this Hagrid?" Erik asked, suddenly feeling very silly.

"Half-Giant, the Gamekeeper, and he teaches Care of Magical Creatures class," Magnus explained. "So, you're having potions problems?" He got back to the subject.

"We are, ja," Erik finally smiled.

"Say, where's that other Gryffie boy?" Ewan wondered.

"Laddie Lawrence?" Aaron asked, "He sort of keeps to himself. Not very social, but I think he's OK."

"Unfortunate name," Rigel shook his head, cheese all over his face. They all just looked at him. "What?!"

It wasn't unusual to find nervous Firsties in the Library on their first Saturday at Hogwarts, considering that many a professor thought that a nice load of homework was a good way to keep them out of trouble and occupied while they adapted to being away from home. What _was_ unusual was the mix of yellow, red, blue, and green at two pushed-together tables in the library.

"You know, this isn't _that_ bad, it just looks that way," Magnus observed, as they flicked through their copies of **The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One**, since Sebastian was still having problems with his wand in certain incantations. "You've just been getting your burner too hot, I wonder?" Magnus was advising Erik and Aaron, after having a look at their potions notes and the sample that was graded "T" for "Troll" they'd brought along. "It's like a stew, you know. You have to stir it over medium heat, or you'll burn it over higher heat. See the blackened part here? Far beyond simple caramelizing!"

"So says the chef," Rigel rolled his eyes. "Secare Capillus!" He passed his wand over his head, and his hair went back to the severe short-fringed style. He was muttering as he flicked the pages of his book, something about "Dad, sick jokes, and Weasleys."

"QUIET OVER THERE!" Madame Hicks, the somewhat old and deaf librarian, shouted at them.

"Magnus, might I see your copy of **Spells**?" Garrett Alcott of Ravenclaw asked. "I think mine is missing pages fifteen and sixteen? See?" He showed them. Sure enough, he had a defective book.

Madame Hicks was more than happy to direct them to the school's copies, but when they arrived at the proper shelf, she stopped. She adjusted her glasses. She went to check her registry. Then she pulled her wand and Summoned the book.

Nothing happened.

"It's not here," she said, "But it's not checked out?"

"What?" the boys all wondered.

"I say, IT'S NOT CHECKED OUT!" She shouted at them. "How can you lot be deaf, with _ears_ like that?" She added.

"Someone stole a First Year textbook?" Rigel wondered.

"Why?" Ewan added, as the door squeaked open. Madame Hicks hit it with an oiling Charm. "She can hear _that_?" He asked.

"BE QUIET!"

"What'd I miss?" Rónán whispered, plunking himself down at the table and yawning.

"Your shoes, for one," Magnus pointed out.

"Your tail," Sebastian added.

"Grilled cheese!" Ewan added.

"We were just showing Aaron and Erik how too…" Magnus began, but Rónán cut him off.

"I hate it when I do that," Rónán said, "One time, we ran a deer so far that after we ate it, and I ate so much, I woke up the next day, naked, under some farmer's haystack with no _clue _where I was!"

"Told you, you didn't want to know," Rigel cut in, seeing the appalled looks on some of the others' faces.

Rónán yawned again. "Least I remembered the trousers this time," he shrugged. "Hey, Griffies," he nodded to the two newcomers.

Then he fixated on Erik and sniffed once.

"You wanna fight?" Rónán asked him flatly, his eyes widening but staying blue.

"No," Erik shook his head.

"Good, _I _don't either," Rónán bobbled his head. "Too tired, still. So, we're taking in stray bears now?" Rónán asked his friends. Erik blushed.

"_German_ ones, from Durmstrang," Magnus supplied nervously.

"I did that once, but at a river when the fish were … making eggs? I was only eight, but it was a long, kalt walk home. I ate too many," Erik nodded seriously.

Rónán yawned again. "Fresh caviar, tha's nice." Then he put his head down on his book and went back to sleep.

"I think that means he likes you?" Sebastian wondered.

"He must have hat a _very _rough Nacht - night," Erik mused. "So, you think my burner is being too heiss, Magnus? Das ist all?"

"Hot? Y-yes, that's all," Magnus answered, puzzled.

"Well, _that _went well," Rigel pointed out.

"I'M TELLING YOU, IT'S BEEN STOLEN, POTTER! YOU AND MALFOY _WERE_ AURORS, GET UP HERE AND INVESTIGATE!" Madame Hicks was shouting into her Floo, sounding as if the whole library had been plundered.

"Your dad was an Auror, too?" Ewan asked Rigel.

"_Used_ to be, he's had an interesting life," Rigel nodded. "But who'd steal a bloomin' textbook? Tha's what I want to know!"

"BE QUIET OVER THERE!"

As there was still some afternoon left when the boys had finished their homework, they followed Rigel down to see Hagrid. The Quidditch pitch was still quite busy as well, and Sebastian just sighed as they passed by.

"I know," Rigel tried to comfort him, "It's rough. Firsties hardly ever make even the B-teams, though."

"Madness," Magnus decided.

"Amen!" Ewan agreed.

"I was supposed to come and have tea with Hagrid next Friday, free period, but I'm sure he won't mind," Rigel went on. "Just watch out for Spot."

"What ist this Spot?" Erik wondered. "And what is very important about your Hagrid?"

"He knows everything there is to know about animals, regular and Magical, _and_ Part-Humans," Rigel informed them. "And Spot is his dog. He's rather large, but he only has one head." They all looked at him oddly. "Never mind."

"Where'r you freaks off to?" Aidan Adams asked them, as he and Poynter meet up with them about halfway. The boys were carrying fishing poles. Lucas stiffened.

"Jus' down to Hagrid's for some late tea," Magnus replied.

"What's the matter, afraid I'll catch your cousin?" Adams asked Lucas.

"You won't catch anything," Lucas assured him, looking out over the Black Lake. There was a whisper of sound, and just the faintest breeze.

"C'mon, Hagrid's always got snacks, and I'm hungry," Rigel cut in.

"I wonder?" Magnus agreed. "Can he cook?"

"_He _thinks so," Rigel grinned. "C'mon!"

"_C'mon_, Poynter," Adams grumbled, "Let 'em go."

"But…?" Poynter began, watching them go. "OH, all right."

Spot turned out to be an amazingly large Old English Mastiff, and there wasn't a spot on him anywhere. He took to Rónán and Magnus at once, mainly because the boys could talk to him. "Wish I was this big when I changed form," Rónán lamented, giving Erik a look.

"I am not so big," Erik shook his head.

As they knocked on the door, they could hear some kind of machine running around the back. It sounded like wood being cut.

"Not so big at what?" Hagrid asked, coming around the corner of his cabin. He was covered in sawdust and carrying what looked like it wanted to be a Beater's bat when it was done. "Wondered when you lot were gonna show up here." He looked them all over. "Nice to see so much socializin' 'tween Houses!" He then patted Rigel's shoulder, nearly knocking him down.

"Yeah, there's just none _inside _certain Houses," Lucas said. Spot licked his face. "Thanks, awfully for that," Lucas patted his head.

"What are you doing, Hagrid?" Rigel asked.

"Oh? This?" Hagrid stuffed the 'bat' in his pocket, "Jus' doing a bit of woodwork. Spindles, yeh know! An' Wood said he might need a few more bats fer Quidditch!"

"Bit small if _you're_ adding on?" Rigel wondered.

"Hagrid?" They recognized Aries' voice calling.

"It's all right, it's jus' the boys from class the other day!" He yelled back. "Shut that thing off!"

The young centaur came around the corner, and he was dusty as well. "Oh, hello," he greeted them.

"Does your father know you're out here talking to us?" Rigel asked. "Centaurs and humans don't really get along too well," he explained to his friends.

"I'm, ah, helping Hagrid, since he's helping my father," Aries explained.

"Oh!" Rigel agreed quickly. "I see!"

"It's better now than it once was," Aries added. "It's not easy being friends with people when you're a half a horse."

"Or half a wolf," Rónán nodded.

"Or half a Sprite," Lucas agreed.

"Or half a… bird, I guess," Sebastian put in.

"Or half ein bear," Erik admitted reluctantly.

"Are you, really?!" Aries wondered, his tail swishing.

"So _yer _the Werebear?" Hagrid smiled brightly, bending down for a closer look at Erik. "Perfessor Weasley told me was gettin' a transfer from Durmstrang! Now I know what yeh meant! Yeh said yeh weren't that big?"

"Not yet," Erik looked at his shoes.

Hagrid was looking sly. "You jus' wait 'til these girls here get a load o'you, boy!"

"Are the rest of you Human, then?" Aries was asking them, as Hagrid grabbed up a startled Erik and began looking him over. He even lit his wand to look in his ears, pulling on them, checking the shape of his head.

"Well, mostly," Magnus answered, realizing he was staring at Aries. "I'm sorry!"

Aries just laughed. "I might be named after a war god, but I'm really a good kid," he said.

"Open wide!" Hagrid was now sticking a tongue depressor into Erik's mouth and shining his wand in.

"What did you mean 'mostly'?" Aries wondered. "Ah! Are you one of those Muggleborns?"

"Yes, and well, I was bitten by a werewolf this summer, but I'm not _quite_ cured," Magnus explained.

"DAS'KALT!" Erik yelped, as Hagrid had a stethoscope and was listening to his heart and lungs.

"I see," Aries smiled, looking at Ewan. "Poor you, huh?"

"What?!" Rigel piped up. "_I'm_ human!"

"_Really_?" Aries smiled.

"How about some rock cakes?" Hagrid offered, having finally put a perplexed Erik down.

"Isn't this your nurse's job?" The German boy asked, putting his shirt back on.

"That'd be me, sometimes, least fer _you_!" Hagrid smiled at him. "Can't wait ter see yehs change!"

"You get used to it, Erik," Rónán assured him. "Trust me."

"Uh, OK?" Erik agreed, taking it literally. He screwed up his face in concentration, then turned into an adorable bear cub. The boys all blinked. Hagrid went over him again, just for good measure. Erik changed back to polite applause.

There was just one problem: "Erm, clothes?" Magnus wondered.

"GAH!" Erik gasped. They all demurely looked up and around.

"So where DO the clothes_ go_, when you change?" Ewan asked.

"I'll ask our doorknocker," Garrett Alcott replied. "Sounds like a good one?"

"I hate it when that happens," Rónán agreed, as Erik had failed to take his clothes 'with him' during the change. "Good thing the girls didn't come!" He laughed.

Hagrid's rock cakes, Magnus found, left much to be desired. He finished his glass of milk long before he finished the cake, but it seemed that Erik and Aaron and Aries liked them. Magnus made a note to invite them soon, although he had no idea how he was going to get a centaur into the kitchen – or even if the colt's parents would allow it.

"We should get back to work, Hagrid," Aries spoke up, when the cakes were gone. Magnus only had the one, and he gave half of it to Spot.

On the way back to the Castle, the boys ran into Professors Potter and Malfoy. Professor Malfoy checked his watch. "And how is Hagrid?" He asked in greeting.

"Fine, sir," Rigel replied.

"Busy making furniture, or something," Magnus added.

The two teachers looked at one another.

"What's that thing you spin wood on?" Ewan asked.

"A lathe?" Harry answered, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't want to know," Professor Malfoy rolled his eyes. "And I don't want any of his rock cakes either!"

"I can't blame you, sir," Magnus agreed.

"This Hagrid is how you say…fremd? Strange, sir?" Erik offered.

"Well, watch out, he's never had a Werebear before," Harry warned him.

"I know das, _now_," Erik sighed.

"So Hagrid's taking up woodworking with manual tools?" Harry wondered again.

"And _we've_ been demoted to investigating library theft," Orion snorted. "It's getting on towards nightfall, boys. Inside," he ordered them.

Dinner that night was pizza, so the rumor was, and Magnus decided to head that one off right away. He went straight to the kitchen, where his friends just watched as he adjusted the recipe for the sauce and showed the Elves how to properly toss the dough. The first time that Sonny tried it, the crust came down on his head!

"This is goods," Tweaky had to admit of the sauce.

"It's the oregano," Magnus assured him. "With a pinch or marjoram."

The boys were required to dress for dinner, and that evening found all four House colors at the far end of the Hufflepuff table enjoying pizza and home-brewed fizzy drinks together.

Later that evening, Magnus got an unpleasant surprise when he reported to the kitchen to help with Elves wash dishes.

"What'r you two doing here?" He asked Adams and Poynter.

"Detention," Adams sneered at him.

"How many?" Magnus was almost afraid to ask.

"Just one," Adams replied, grinning. "I guess laughing at a Mud-…someone, isn't nearly as bad as punching someone in the mouth?"

"There must be five hundred plates here!" Poynter gasped. "And they took our wands!"

"Three hundred twenty-six," Magnus corrected him. "Trust me, I _know_."

"Well have fun," Adams snorted, plunking himself down at the worktable.

"You're not helping?" Poynter glared at him.

"No! You gonna rat me out?" Adams turned to Magnus. "Not so tough without your freaky little friends, are you, Gove?"

"At least I _have_ friends," Magnus replied. "Just leave, Aidan. I won't tell. Why don't you _both_ leave? Go hide somewhere for an hour, tha's about how long it takes me. I promise I won't tell."

Adams headed for the door. "You coming?" He demanded of Poynter, who now had his head in a large icebox, snooping.

"Not yet," Poynter replied. "Merlin! This thing is huge inside! There's like eight sides of beef, two sheep, and a pig in here!" He pulled his head back out to examine the side. It was only a yard [metre] deep. He ran a hand behind it. Then he stepped into it. "It's a walk-in freezer! How do they _do_ that?"

"It's just like magic!" Magnus offered.

"Suit yourself, jus' don't let the freak bite you," Adams snorted on his way out the door.

Magnus began filling one of the sinks.

"So where's the Elves?" Poynter asked.

"Night off," Magnus shrugged irritably. "Either fill a sink and help, or leave, Poynter." He threw in some detergent. "I'm sorry. It's just…"

"You know, _I_ don't like him, either," Poynter offered. "That grilled cheese was good, thank you," he added, as the door to the Cellar opened.

"Wow, haven't you been punished enough already, Mag?" Rigel asked. "Where's _A_ddie?"

"He left," Poynter mumbled, turning on the tap to another sink.

"Good," Rigel smiled, pulling his wand. "Got this one from Gran Rose," he fired a Charm at the sink. The dishes began doing themselves. He then handed Magnus his own wand back. "Father told me to give you this when you were done. You're done!" Rigel smiled.

"That's cheating!" Poynter exclaimed.

"You _still _here, Muttley?" Rigel observed.

"Hey, watch it with the dog jokes!" Rónán protested.

"Oh, _I _get it!" Ewan piped up. "_Pointers_, Beagles, hounds, mutts!"

"Should have been a Ravenclaw, _that_ one," Rónán laughed at him.

"M-my name's 'Connor'," Poynter offered, putting the one dish he'd washed into the rinse water. "Never mind," he turned towards the door without even drying his hands. "I'll go see if Hagrid has any more Hippogriff manure to shovel."

"Good idea," Rigel agreed.

They watched him go, hands in his pockets, head down, and shuffling his feet.

"I think you hurt his feelings," Magnus said.

"Like he cares about _yours_," Rigel retorted. "The only reason he stayed was because he's afraid he'll get caught skiving off detention. Wait 'til I tell Father about _A_ddie!" He grinned deviously.

"Don't," Magnus' compassion got the better of him, as he set in to drying dishes.

"What did I _say_?" Rigel wondered.

**Endnotes:**

*No, I did not check future calendars for date accuracy. Just go with it, please.

So, is Rigel human or not?! What do you think? Rigel said he got his hair from Gran Hermione. Not possible, given genetics!

**Characters **listed in chapter 3 endnotes.

Jordan (G1), first name – Aaron (descendant of Lee)

Poynter (S1) – first name - Connor

Erik Bär (G1) Aaron's friend, German, Werebear, latecomer

Laddie Lawrence (G1) – loner?

Madame Hicks, librarian. Old. Deaf. Yells a lot.

The Stratton family – still teaching Astronomy since Teddy was a Firstie!


	6. Chapter 6-Letters and Shovels

6-Letters & Shovels  
*

If Magnus Scot Gove VI had been around some one hundred and twenty years before, and had lived on Privet Drive (which of course, not even Magnus I had), he might have known that one Mr. Vernon Dursley's favorite thing about Sundays, at least when his nephew Harry Potter had been nearly eleven years old, was that there was _no_ post on Sundays.

This Muggle idea, however, did not apply to the Hogwarts post owls. In fact, many of them spent most of their time in the Owlry with nothing to do. The exception to this rule was one peppered owl named Hooter, who belonged to one Liam C. Creevey of Hufflepuff House, Second Year. The poor overworked and unfortunately named bird was in a perpetually bad mood, it seemed, having been Express-Apparated back and forth to London via the Hogsmeade Postmistress so often, that he was usually missing a few splinched tail feathers!

That Sunday morning, as Magnus picked at a bowl of cold cereal, Hooter arrived with the very large copy of the _**Sunday Prophet**_, horked up a mess of owl pellets in front of his perplexed master, nicked his bacon, bit him, then flew off in a huff without even allowing the puzzled boy to send him back to London with an envelope of 4x6 glossy prints.

"What's got into him?" Liam wondered.

"No idea," Daniel Birken replied with a smile, as his own rather lazy owl rolled over, almost in the porridge bowl, for his master to rub his belly. It was quite pathetic. Daniel glanced across the table at Magnus. "So, you getting settled in all right, Mag?"

Magnus nodded. Daniel blinked.

Magnus was eating cold cereal – and Magnus _never_ ate cold cereal. In fact, in the Gove household, breakfast was a very serious affair that usually involved at least a half an hour of preparation.

"Wha's _wrong_?" Daniel insisted.

"Nothing," Magnus mumbled, looking up as his own barn owl, Auguste, arrived with a letter for him. The bird took one look at his sodden cereal, and promptly took Daniel's sausages, which were a bit burnt.

"Oh my!" Liam Creevey piped up, "Look at this!" He pointed to the headline of the newspaper:

**Hogwarts House Elves Run Amok in Hogsmeade!**

It was reported that late last night, the kitchen Elves of Hogwarts School, after having been apparently given the night off by _someone_ in authority, ran amok in Hogsmeade Village. After having been served too much Butterbeer by Madame Esmerelda Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks pub (who should have known better!), the drunken Elves went on a riotous rampage of carousing, singing (shrieking is more like it), vandalism, and rampant unsolicited home repairs. Several village residents reported extreme and utterly garish remodeling of their lawns and street-facing structures. Mrs. Diana Dinkle reported that not only had her gazebo been wrecked beyond repair, but that her cat was so severely traumatized that she must seek professional help for the poor beast. Headmaster Hugo Weasley, of course, denied all knowledge and was quoted, "I know nothing about anyone telling the Elves to take the night off, which as we all know, telling an Elf to do such could result in…well…_anything_ happening!"

Story continues on page 14

"Well that explains the cereal and burnt meats. Who'd just tell an Elf to take the night off?" Miss MacMillan wondered. "Don't they realize what that does to their Oath, and restrictions?"

Magnus' face turned pink as he studied his unopened letter.

"You _didn't_?" She noticed it at once, knowing full well that Magnus was on indefinite dish duty with the Elves. "You _did_!"

"I…I didn't _know_!" Magnus managed, wide eyed. "They work so hard! I thought they deserved to go out and have a good time!"

Liam flipped to page fourteen. "Wow, looks like they made a real mess of Honeydukes, too! Look at this picture!"

"But where'd they get the money for the Butterbeer?" Ewan wondered.

About then, Rigel's haircut Charm failed again and _his _face turned pink. "No idea," he offered, just as his own owl dropped a red letter in front of him.

The Weasley Twins seized upon it at once. "Look, everyone! Our little cousin's got himself a Howler!" They announced to the Hall, taking in the sight of the red envelope with a four-leafed clover-shaped foil seal.

"Oh hell," Professor Malfoy mumbled at the staff table, "It's the little woman!"

"Oh, no!" Rigel gasped, flipping his porridge bowl over it and pulling his wand. "MUFFLIATO!" He exclaimed in desperation.

It didn't work.

"**RIGEL **_**OSSIAN**_** MALFOY**!" A lady's thick Irish brogue began a tirade, the force of it blowing the bowl upwards to fly high up over the Gryffindor table in a graceful arc, and come to land on Aidan Adam's head as the sodden red envelope hovered in front of the embarrassed Rigel's face, spitting porridge at him.

"_**Never**_** in the history of the Macpherson Family have we had a Hufflepuff! Slytherins and the assorted Ravenclaws, yes, but **_**HUFFLEPUFF**_**? What in the world possessed you to ask the Sorting Hat for **_**that**_**?! What will your **_**grandparents **_**think? You **_**know**_** how the family regarded Helga Hufflepuff! At least now I know why you didn't write home about your Sorting, and why your **_**father**_** was skirting the subject! You just wait until Christmas Holidays, young man! You and I, and Mam and Da' are going to have a looooong talk about this one, me boyo! And what's this about a weerwoof? Of all your **_**mad**_** ideas…"**

"INCENDIO!" Rigel cut the rampage off, as the letter exploded into flames before it could finish.

"So, I take it your mum's Irish?" Ewan asked.

"Yeh _think_?!" Rigel gasped. "What was yer _first _clue?"

"At least your letter is not red?" Sebastian commented to Magnus, who was looking dumbfounded.

"W-well, mine might not be much better," Magnus conceded.

"MALFOY!" Adams shouted at him.

"It just gets better…" – "…and better!" The Twins smiled. Then they paused, leaning over for a closer look at their cousin.

"Settle down over there!" Professor Malfoy called, firing off a quick cleaning Charm at Adams.

"What?" Rigel asked his cousins, noticing that his sister, Helene, was staring at him from the Ravenclaw table as well.

In fact, everyone was staring at him.

"Little brother, I think you really should leave the hair Charms to Dad," Helene winked at him.

"Y-your taches de…I mean, freckles?" Sebastian pointed out.

"I don't _have_ freckles!" Rigel protested, although he actually did, if only very faint ones.

"You do _now_!" The Twins informed him. "And only the Potter side of the family has green eyes!"

"Is your hair _darker _than it was?" Rónán added, "I mean, yeah, it's fluffy, but it's like…deep copper-red now?"

"The Weasley genes have finally erupted!" The Twins laughed. "Some of us must be…" – "…late bloomers!"

**POP**!

"Ouch!" Rigel gasped, dropping his wand. He'd been gripping it so tightly that he'd split the handle, which got everyone's attention all over again as the wand put out a shower of green sparks. "Wow, tha's what it did when I got it!" Rigel observed. "Never been able to get it to do it again, though?"

Helene got up and went the staff table to get their father as Rigel picked a splinter from his palm.

"Bad handle?" Ewan wondered.

"Must be, have to get that fixed," Rigel nodded, as his father came up behind him. He mended the wand's handle at once. Then he took one look at his son and gasped. "With me, _now_!" He ordered, grabbing the small boy by the collar and leading him from the Hall.

At the Slytherin table, Lucas Bole watched them go.

"I hope he gets his arse blistered!" Adams laughed.

Back the Hufflepuff table, Magnus shoved his own letter into his pocket and got up to go.

"Awww, Gove, you're no fun at all!" The Twins called after him.

"I bet he's in trouble for fighting," Rónán fretted.

"Just let him go," Daniel suggested.

"_My dear boy_," Magnus' letter began,

"_While I was sorely disappointed in you to hear from your Headmaster that you've gotten into a fight already, I am proud of you, in that Auguste arrived here with your confession in advance of the school's notification. It sounds to me as if this Adams fellow is quite the disagreeable sort, and I would make every effort to avoid him in the future, were I in your place. Honestly, Magnus? A Gove – brawling? Your mother and I are pleased that you are in the same House with your friend, Daniel, and that you've made so many new friends already. It sounds like an interesting lot, to be certain. We do hope that you've not had any ill effects from that wolf bite of yours, although Mr. Lupin has reassured us that you'll be fine. Headmaster Weasley also wrote to inform us of your first great conquest of the kitchens there! He says your dormitory is adjacent to the kitchen? How fortunate can one be, I wonder? However, I think a roly-poly is somewhat beneath your talents, my boy – don't you think? Study hard, Magnus, and do try and stay out of trouble. On the subject of enemies, I have often found that a flavorful peace offering goes very far in avoiding future conflicts. Feasting with your enemies, remember, is only a good idea when _you_ were the one who cooked the food! Remember, a cake through the stomach may be a wiser move than a sword through the heart! Oh, and do be careful with that broomstick class, won't you? I suppose it's akin to physical education? Perhaps they'll offer cross-county? Well, at least they won't have you playing cricket, will they? Hannah also sends her regards and will write soon.  
Take care, Mum & Dad._

Magnus read the letter again a few times, then put it in a drawer of his bureau. For a while, he just sat there on his bed, staring at the floor. The few bites of cold cereal were sitting heavily in his stomach, making him feel as if he'd swallowed a large rock. He was nauseous, his head was beginning to hurt, and he wondered if he might not be coming down with something as he stretched out on his bed. He thought about finding his friends and exploring the Castle. He thought about going to Hagrid's, wondering if he might bump into Aries there again. He tried reading a book. That didn't work, as he couldn't remember what he'd read a minute after he'd read it. He thought about writing a reply, but nothing came to him. With a great sigh, he dismissed all these ideas, coming to realize that he really didn't feel like doing _anything_ with his Sunday off.

"At least I didn't get shouted at," Magnus mumbled to no one, wondering where Rigel had gone off to with his father. "But how did he crack the grip?" The boy wondered.

"Magnus?" A disembodied voice suddenly made the boy jump.

"Y-yes?" Magnus sat up, looking around. There was a silvery, tonsured head poking through the wall. "Hello, sir! Come in!" He greeted the Ghost of the Fat Friar, who drifted over to sit next to him.

"What are you doing sitting down here in the Cellar, boy, when it's a lovely day out?" The Friar asked.

Magnus bowed his head. The Goves had never been a religious family, and Magnus wasn't sure if he should be attending services of some sort with the Friar or not.

"N-not feeling good, sir," Magnus replied. "Must be the wolf thing, do you think?"

"Somehow I don't believe so," the Friar shook his head. "We've had many a wolfy student in the last century, and they always bounce back fairly fast. Besides, I hear all you got was some fur?"

Magnus nodded.

"You know, I _do _hear a lot of confessions, Magnus," The Friar encouraged him.

Magnus sighed again.

"That is a symptom in itself," The Friar pointed out. "Feeling a bit blue?" He chuckled, "As if I should talk!"

"I feel awful," Magnus admitted. "I thought it was the cereal, or the wolf hair thing, or jus' not getting enough sleep with all the excitement here."

"I think that's the key word, my boy," The Friar nodded.

"Which one?"

"'here'," The Friar clarified. "I'm not a Mediwitch, but _I_ think you're homesick."

"Did you get homesick when you were al-" Magnus bit off the word "alive" quickly, thinking better of it, "-a boy here, sir?"

The Friar nodded. "I did. Very much so, in fact. You see, Magnus, I grew up in a monastery, until my Hogwarts visit came. That was about a millennium ago, in fact, so long ago that Hogwarts was still something shiny and new, a bit of a novelty. Of course, the other monks didn't take well to it at all. They thought I was in league with Lucifer, the Devil, that is, but I still missed them terribly. They were the only family I ever knew, Magnus, and when the magic sort of began leaking out of me, they wanted nothing more to do with me." He sighed. "Yes, I was quite miserable," he confessed. "Know the feeling?"

Magnus nodded reluctantly. "I…I thought it would be fun," he said, "All the magic and the lot? But it's all I can do to sit on a broomstick! How…how did I get to be a wizard, when no one else in my family is?"

"_That_, my boy, is the great mystery of our world," The Friar shrugged. "Maybe it's genetics, and the recessive one finally popped up in you?"

"Tha's what the Twins said about Rigel, but there's never been a wizard in my family," Magnus agreed, although he still looked quite glum about something. He glanced at the bureau again, thinking of his letter. It made him think of how lucky Rigel was.

But Professor Orion Malfoy, he knew already, was quite cool in his attitude and even addressed Rigel as "Mr. Malfoy" and the boy addressed him as "sir" or "professor". He wondered about Rigel's Howler letter and why his friend seemed to be in so much trouble just for being in Hufflepuff.

But the Friar was right, Magnus knew.

He missed his parents. He couldn't imagine not having them to go home to someday. It only made him feel worse.

"I think I should go see Madame Pomfrey," Magnus finally decided.

The Friar patted his hand, which felt like plunging it into a bucket of ice water. Magnus gasped.

"Madame Pomfrey can only cure your _physical_ ills, though, my son," The Friar hinted.

"What?!" Magnus gasped again.

"Firsties don't get dish duty for just nothing," The Friar reminded him. "Or barn duty. And this is going to bother you until you repent and make restitution," he added knowingly.

And Magnus knew what he meant.

"_I'll just go and see if Hagrid has any more manure to shovel."_

He could still hear Poynter's…Connor's words.

He could still see the look on his face.

"_Why_ didn't I stop him?" Magnus whispered.

"I don't know," The Friar smiled at him.

Then he vanished.

"_Another _one of you?" Madame Pomfrey snorted, as Magnus entered the Hospital Wing. She was just discharging an older Gryffindor boy that Magnus didn't know. He was getting his shirt back on, and his ribs were braced. "Have you been to the Pitch, too?" She demanded.

"No?" Magnus squeaked, noticing Professor Malfoy (who hadn't noticed him) standing near a screen a few beds over. Magnus' already-unsteady stomach lurched. Was Rigel ill? Had his letter from his mum upset him that badly? Maybe he'd had an anxiety attack?

"You'd think I could at least get a Sunday off," she went on, grabbing Magnus by the arm and ushering him to an exam table. With a wave of her wand, she stripped him to only his briefs and began scanning him. "There's not a mark or a Hex trace on you," she observed, taking his hand and examining it. "So what's the trouble? Your hand's fine."

"Wha's wrong with Rigel?" Magnus asked.

"What's wrong with _you,_ Gove?" She replied. "Intestinal worms, like your other little friend?" She grabbed up a red rubber bottle with a white hose off of her 'cart full of horrors'.

Magnus winced.

"NO!"

FLUSH

Rónán then emerged from the loo, dressed in only a white gown. "But it's just a stomachache, Ma'am?" Rónán protested.

"You eat _live_ meat, you pay for it, Wolfboy!" She informed him, pointing at a rumpled bed.

"But it's nice outside!"

They stared at each other for a moment, until Rónán cracked and went back to his bed.

"Busy place today," she observed, holding up a Muggle-type thermometer. She paused. "Well, Gove? One guess where _this _goes?"

"Marigold, are you in there?" Another voice called, and they looked up to see a lady that Magnus didn't know coming in. She was dressed in white robes with a similar headdress, and Magnus thought she must be a doctor. And she sounded French. She was also very pretty.

"Ah, Mathilde! Glad you could come on such short notice!" Madame Pomfrey greeted her. "Your Veela boy should be along any time now!" She glared at Magnus again, who was now embarrassed to be seen by a stranger, even though it was another doctor. "Oh, for pity's sake!" She admonished him, "Dr. Petit, this is Gove."

"You are going to give him an enema, no?" Dr. Petit wondered.

"**NO**!" Magnus exclaimed, instantly realizing what she'd just done to Rónán for his case of intestinal worms, and just where that white hose _went_! "It's just that I'm…"

Dr. Petit whipped out her wand and scanned Magnus.

"Headache, upset stomach, kinda dizzy, don't want to do anything," Magnus explained, suddenly wanting to tell her everything.

"Homesickness," she declared with a smile.

"I was _trying_ to scare it out of him," Madame Pomfrey complained, poking a foul potion down Magnus' throat. "Now go out and get some fresh air and sunshine, and don't come back!" She waved the bottle at him again. "I'm busy enough as it is!"

Dr. Petit patted Magnus' head. "Werewolf?"

"Not really," Magnus replied.

"_That_ one is," Madame Pomfrey pointed at Rónán. "Worst case of roundworms I've ever seen in one!"

"Ah, Hufflepuff?" Dr. Petit observed of Magnus' hoodie, as he was getting his clothes back on. "Do you have any other Part-Humans, Marigold?"

"I've got wolves, birds, bears, Elves, Leprechauns, you name it! What do I look like – a veterinarian?" Madame Pomfrey complained, "They're _all_ Part-Humans!"

"I'M _NOT_!" Rigel shouted from behind his screen.

"Calm down, son, you're not helping yourself," Professor Malfoy told him, but his voice was much softer than Magnus had ever heard him use.

About then, Sebastian came though the door. "Now what?" He wondered. Then he saw Dr. Petit. "Bonjour, Médecin Petit," he greeted her, looking like he might cry.

Dr. Petit got him on the table, did a Switching Spell to put him into a gown, and began examining his arm. "This is not good," she declared, and Magnus noticed that Sebastian's eyes were very dark again, and enlarging. But so were Dr. Petit's. He realized that she must be a Veela, perhaps Sebastian's own pediatrician from home.

"Run along, Gove," Professor Malfoy reminded him, "Before she changes her mind about you!"

"Sir, is Rigel all right?" Magnus dared ask.

"He'll be fine, Gove, thank you," He added. "Goodbye."

"I AM fine!" Rigel disagreed. "Get over here, Mag!"

Professor Malfoy made to stop him, but then let him pass behind the screen.

Rigel's hair was indeed a rich shade of copper, and it looked to be on fire as the sun streamed through the window upon it. It was longer, even fluffier, and his freckles stood out in hard contrast to his paler skin.

And his eyes were glittering green.

"See, I'm fine!" Rigel repeated. "I just need a real haircut!"

"You look all right to me?" Magnus had to agree, because he did. In fact, Rigel didn't have that sickly cast anymore, and he wondered why his father was so upset.

"GOVE!" Madame Pomfrey shouted again. "OUT!"

Unsure of what to do, and thinking it rude to inquire further about his three friends, Magnus left.

Ewan wasn't in the Cellar when Magnus returned, and in fact, the place was deserted. Given what he'd seen when he'd passed by the ground floor windows, he couldn't blame anyone for wanting to be outside.

"Must be a nice day out?" Someone asked, and Magnus yelped and jumped. "Over here?" The voice of Cedric Diggory reminded him.

"I just _can't_ get used to you talking pictures!" Magnus declared. "Honestly!"

"Try getting used to _being_ a picture," Cedric joked. "I've been reproduced by every Creevey who's ever come here at least a thousand times!" Cedric studied the boy for a moment. "Do you know what the inside of a Muggle Epson scanner looks like? So what's bothering you? Elves toss you out of their kitchen?"

Magnus flopped on a sofa. "No, it wasn't _me_, what got tossed," he fudged. "And I don't know what to do."

Cedric nodded. "You steal that library book?"

"How'd you know one was missing?" Magnus wondered. "And no, I have my own!"

"Please! We portraits don't have much to do, other than spy on you students, so we get together and gossip a lot," Cedric explained. "The portrait of Madame Pince up there is about to blow out her frame over it!'

"_Spying_?!" Magnus gasped. "How rude!"

"How do you think students make it to the kitchen at night without getting caught?" Cedric countered, "If someone didn't warn them that a teacher was coming?"

Magnus thought about it. "Good point."

"You're upset over what happened between Rigel and that Slytherin boy, Connor, aren't you, Mag?" Cedric asked bluntly, "And you're worried about what your friends will think if you try and be kind to him?"

Magnus just nodded miserably.

"The portrait of Regulus Black, Slytherin, told me all about it. Come over here and read the plaque right under me," Cedric suggested. "I think it might help you decide what to do."

Magnus did that. He read it again:

"Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.*" – Albus Dumbledore

"_That'_s why they said to come see you," Magnus realized.

"If I'd done what was _easy_, Mag, Lord Voldemort might well have beaten Harry Potter, and you'd probably not even be here," Cedric warned him. "Next time you see Professor Potter, ask him about a little orphan boy from Slytherin named Tommy Riddle, whom not one single person on this planet ever cared about – or loved. Then think about Connor Poynter."

It was indeed a very nice day out as Magnus exited the Castle. He'd eventually found Ewan being tutored on a child's toy broomstick by Aaron Jordan and Erik Bär, as Professor Wood absolutely refused to excuse Ewan from flying over one runaway incident. He left them to their own devices, promising not to tell anyone, and had packed a large lunch in the kitchen to take outside with him.

Then he waited behind some rosebushes, and watched as Madame Iceni escorted one student in a green shirt down to Hagrid's.

"What'r _you _doing here, Gove?" Connor Poynter asked Magnus, the Slytherin currently being up to his Wellingtons in Hippogriff manure in Hagrid's barn. Then he saw the shovel in Magnus' hand. "Did you slug Adams again?" He asked hopefully.

"No," Magnus shrugged, "I'm still the dishwasher," he hesitated, "And it's not fair, Connor," he used his first name. "It's my fault you're here. I should have told Rigel to stop picking on you, and I should have stopped you and asked you to stay. Dishes are a lot easier than this! Smell better, too! I'm very sorry."

"_You're_ apologizing to _me_?" Connor wondered. "Well, _tha'_s different." He considered the Hufflepuff for a moment. "You're all…over it, right? The wolf thing, I mean? 'Cause you were lookin' pretty shaggy the other night."

"I'm not going to bite you, Connor," Magnus drew in his breath. "I _am_ sorry."

"_Re_ally?" Connor didn't seem to believe him.

"I am. I feel awful about it. It wasn't easy, coming here," Magnus conceded. "But it was right. I dunno why Rigel doesn't like you, and it's none of my business, but he can just get over it."

"After that Howler this morning, I dunno, he's got a lot _to_ get over," Connor replied, "I still can't believe he wanted to be in Hufflepuff. All the Malfoys are always in Slytherin."

"His dad wasn't?" Magnus corrected him, as they shoveled away.

"You're right, forgot about him," Connor nodded, wincing a little. He rubbed his forehead.

"Are you all right?"

"It…it's nothing," Connor waved him off. "I just get headaches a lot. I was hoping, here, I wouldn't, with all the magic, you know. Never mind," he turned away.

They shoveled for a while longer. Magnus thought his apology had been accepted, but the Slytherin wasn't all that forthcoming as they worked.

"Did you have any lunch?" Magnus thought to ask.

"No, didn't feel like it, bad as breakfast was," Connor replied.

Magnus went out and got his pack and offered him a sandwich, when he saw the Connor had followed him out. "My fault. I was the one what let the House Elves loose."

"Cool! You make this?" Connor asked. "What _is _it with you and food, like that grilled cheese yesterday?"

"We Goves are always ready, where it comes to food," Magnus replied. "I know I get awfully bad headaches if I don't eat regularly and my blood sugar falls."

"Tha's not _my_ problem," Connor offered, as they went outside for a break.

_I deserved that_, Magnus thought.

Not knowing what else to do to try and get a conversation going, Magnus tried something else. "I thought Adams was your friend? Why'd you think I'd hit him again?"

Connor sniffed. "My friend? Riiiiight…some _friend_. Ever since primary, he's been getting me in trouble. Hell, _I'd_ like to hit him!" Connor swore. "Old fashioned, Pureblood git! You heard what he almost called _you_?" The Slytherin then laughed. "If he'd _done_ it, it would have been like a hundred-fifty points from us, and he'd have a review board for maybe getting expelled!"

"Mud-something?" Magnus encouraged him.

Connor looked all around, and then crooked a finger at the Hufflepuff. Magnus leaned in close, hoping he wasn't about to get shoved in the manure. "'Mudblood'," Connor whispered in his ear. "It's a really bad slur they used to use all the time. It means your parents aren't Magical, or 'dirty blooded' or something."

"Oh, I was thinking of other words!" Magnus looked perplexed. "Doesn't sound like a dirty word to me?"

"No one _ever_ says it anymore, not like in a hundred years," Connor explained. "Adams' granddad got expelled from Hogwarts for it, though, and he had to go to _Durmstrang_ for eight years!"

"Erik is from there!" Magnus offered. "Is it a bad school?" He wondered anxiously, hoping that Connor would open up some more.

"It's cold, and yeah, there's a lot of freaks there. They do Dark Magic stuff, too. Start school when they're ten now, not eleven, and they only get to go home for Christmas for two weeks and one week in the spring, with only four weeks off in summer!" Connor explained. "They have to cut their own firewood, and there's no Warming Charms! And no House Elves to cook and clean! They shave their heads, and make them do physical education classes _naked_ in the snow – _first_ thing in the morning for two hours!"

"They do _not_!" Magnus gasped, hanging on every word.

"Well, tha's what _I _heard," Connor fudged.

"I'll ask Erik," Magnus offered, not quite believing it now, and Connor shivered. Magnus caught it.

"I don't wanna know Erik. He's probably a Russian bear," Connor cringed.

"German, actually. You're scared of Part-Humans…us?" He finally admitted it. "Is that why you guys are so mean to Lucas?"

"Elfboy?" Connor asked. "No, not really," he admitted. "I don't have a problem with Bole. He'll be a great Quidditch player someday. Hard to believe we got a mongrel in our House, though. Sorry," he added quickly.

"I think you _do_ have a problem," Magnus disagreed, as they went back to shoveling for a while before Connor spoke again.

"Yeah, and his name's 'Adams'," Connor finally confessed. "He's good at magic, 'cause of his _daddy._ And he's a bully."

And Magnus finally realized the Slytherin's problem: Connor was being bullied.

"You have to _tell_ someone!" Magnus suggested. "Tell Madame Iceni!"

"Dunno how it is in your Cellar, Gove, but we don't _do _things that way in our House," Connor explained. "It'll only make it worse." He then sat down with a whimper on a nearby stool. "I'm just so-so at magic and school, always have been, and Aidan helps me, sometimes," he then pulled a small blue, oblong crystal from his ear. "And I can't hear too good. When I have to take this hearing aid out, I can't hear the teachers. But it hurts my head, and everyone thinks I'm stupid 'cause I miss a lot of stuff. Sometimes the headaches are so bad, I'm in bed all day."

Magnus felt suddenly sick to his stomach again.

"Including Rigel?" He asked.

"You have to look at me when you talk, Gove. If I can't see your mouth move, I don't know what you said," Connor informed him.

Magnus found facing him hard to do. "Well, at least _he_ got yelled at today?" Magnus shrugged, not knowing what else to say to the Slytherin's problems. And he realized what Connor had meant by "not my problem".

Connor had his own problems.

"Oh yeah, I _forgot_! Rigel's mum, though! Wow. If you think Madame Iceni's scary, you should see _her_!" Connor informed him, suddenly growing excited. Magnus wondered at the sudden mood swing.

"Why?" Magnus asked. "All I know is that she's Irish, or sounds that way in a Howler?"

Connor nodded. "She _is_! And you know what _else_?" He lowered his voice to a whisper. "She's really short, but she's got this long, kinda odd hair like Rigel's that almost looks like it's on fire when the light hits it just right! And her eyes are so…green, that they're _creepy_! You'd swear they were those green jewels."

Magnus froze. 'Copper hair on fire'? 'Green eyes'? He thought.

"You've met her?" Magnus asked, wondering at how the subject of Rigel had suddenly opened the other boy up to talk. "Emeralds, you mean?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah, _those_! We went to primary school together, me and Rigel. And _boy_, has she got a temper! She got so mad at our teacher once, that the windows all exploded when she started screaming at him at our term evaluations!"

"Wow!" Magnus breathed, his mind racing over Connor's words.

"Me, I think she's a _Leprechaun_!" Connor then sat back down. "We used to tease Rigel about that, him being so small, made him madder than hell. Anyhow, not _your_ problem," he rubbed his head. "Just please don't tell Adams or Malfoy?"

"You bullied him - Rigel?" Magnus wondered.

"Yeah, guess we did," Connor confessed.

"Oh, I _won't_ tell! I don't know about Slytherin, but we don't _do_ things that way in Hufflepuff," Magnus threw his own words back at him. "Connor, are you quite all right?" Magnus added, noticing that he was crying and trying to hide it as they worked.

"It just hurts so bad sometimes, I forgot to take them out last night." He leaned on his shovel.

Magnus thought of something. He pulled out his wand. "Sonny?" He yelled.

**CRACK**!

"Whats is Masters doing in all these poops?" Sonny wondered. Then he snapped his fingers, and the manure vanished.

"Sonny, Connor has a bad headache. Can you take him to Hospital?" Magnus asked, surprised that he'd been able to summon Rónán's Elf.

"It's OK, I don't need…" Connor started to refuse, out of pride - no doubt - until he opened his eyes and saw the barn cleaned. He slumped a bit. "Thanks, Magnus, I don't think I'd have made it," he sighed, offering his hand.

And Magnus took it.

Then Sonny and Connor vanished in a whirl of Elf Apparation.

"I'll just finish up here," Magnus said to no one, sniffling, as he got the barn in order before the Hippogriffs came home to roost.

It was getting late, but there was still enough time before dinner to clean up and write a couple of letters. An evening breeze had picked up, and the temperature was falling as the sun painted the western sky in tones of orange, purple, and gray. Magnus stared at it for a bit, then went on, wondering if Liam might be taking a picture of it.

As he trudged back up to the Castle in his nearly ruined trainers [sneakers] and smelly clothes, he met up with Lucas. The Elvin boy was coming back up from the lakeshore, and he was somewhat blue, dressed only in his wet, gray shorts.

"What _have_ you been doing, Mag?" Lucas wondered, sniffing.

"Just doing what was _right_," Magnus replied dismally. "But now I feel worse than I did before."

**Endnotes:**

*Direct JKR quote, from the book.

Niamh (Malfoy)-Gaelic:'bright', Princess of the land of Promise who left with Ossian for the Otherworld. Rigel's mother.

More on Rigel's mum's family names, inspirations: wiki/Ossian

Mathilde Petit – Fournier family physician from France.

Note that Rigel has 2 middle names.


	7. Chapter 7-The Wrong Suspect

7-The Wrong Suspect?  
*

**A/N**: (?15+ warning for slight language, "medical threats", and crude 11-yo.-boy-toilet-humor. Bullying is touched upon, but not portrayed.)

Sunday nights, Magnus soon found, were for finishing up any loose ends on homework. Miss MacMillan, their Prefect, saw to this. "I _have_ little brothers and sisters," she warned all the underclassmen, boys and girls alike. She also made the boys tidy their room, which had become somewhat of a disaster area in only a few days. Magnus' shoes, however, had to be taken for Professor Malfoy for a serious Protean Charm to restore them. The boy hadn't counted on the lingering odor, which had permeated the Cellar, as hard as he'd tried to clean them! After all, there was only so much that a First Year cleaning Charm and a scrub brush could do. But even with as tired as he was after all that, Magnus just couldn't fall asleep. He had too much on his mind.

He was worried about his friends. He wondered if Connor Poynter of Slytherin was being bullied, or if he'd just assumed that. He wondered how Lucas was getting along as well. He was worried about how Rónán would get along in the long run with Erik. He was even worried about Aries and his father. And of course, he was dead terrified of flying. All that, and three of his friends were still in Hospital.

In the course of one day, it seemed, so much had gone wrong.

Magnus thought about Dr. Petit, and figured that if she were a Veela, then she'd certainly know how to treat another one with a bad wing. Magnus had to wonder, though, just how long Sebastian was going to have to hold his avian form for his shoulder to heal properly?

Rónán was being held for further testing for canine intestinal worms, and who knew what else. Magnus shivered at the thought of what Madame Pomfrey might be doing to him, but he was sure that it involved that intimidating red rubber bottle.

Rigel was the most intriguing, however. Magnus thought about what Connor Poynter had told him about Rigel's mum. Granted, all the evidence in Rigel's case was circumstantial, but it was piling up at an alarming rate. To confound it all, Magnus didn't know a thing about Leprechauns – other than what common folklore and popular culture portrayed.

Then again, wasn't it possible that Magical children might have some side effects from coming to Hogwarts, which Professor Malfoy had told them was surrounded by the most powerful Enchantments ever performed in the history of Magic? And could Part-Humans be more so affected by it?

All of this was keeping Magnus awake, despite how tired he was from mucking out Hagrid's barn with Connor.

And since he was a Gove, and since he couldn't sleep, that left only one thing for Magnus to do.

"Doesn't you ever sleeps?" Sonny complained, as Magnus entered the kitchen in his pyjamas and slippers. The Elf shook a finger at him. "Sonny will be Charming your pillows again, he will!"

"I just need a few dozen biscuits [cookies]," Magnus informed him. It was getting towards midnight, and the Elves vacated to Magnus' dorm room, which was currently inhabited by only a sleeping Ewan.

They were simple to make. Magnus knew the recipe for basic sugar cookies by heart, and he even found some butterscotch morsels to toss in. Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, baking powder, salt; all there was to it. They were done quickly, and Magnus passed his hand over them, cooling them at once. He thought of Sonny, and made another batch to leave for the Elves, being a thoughtful boy as he was.

"Mag?" Ewan sneaked up behind him, and Magnus thought he'd had a coronary! "Sonny said you were scoffing, or even sneaking out?"

"C'mon, then," Magnus sighed in relief, "Jus' don't _do _that anymore!"

Then came the hard part – getting the biscuits to the Hospital Wing without being caught.

He would have to make it off of the cellar level to the ground floor. Cross the ground floor to the stairs, access the second floor corridor, travel down it the length of almost half the school, turn left, and then proceed almost half the length of that direction. All while carrying a sack full of biscuits.

He wondered if Caretaker Smith, whom he'd not met yet, liked biscuits?

"Bribery," Magnus decided, as he stuck his head out from behind the tapestry that guarded the kitchens and looked both ways.

"Would work fer me!" Ewan agreed.

He stepped out. He turned. The corridor was dark, and he gave his eyes time to adjust. A torch flared to life as they passed it. "No!" Magnus hissed, waving his hand at it to signal "down". The torch sputtered and died. "Thank you!" Magnus breathed. He made his way up the stairs, poked his head around the corner, and carefully stepped out.

They ran straight into something large.

"Ooooof!" Two other voices grunted.

"What have we here, Giddy?" Fabian Weasley whispered.

"Looks like a sneaking badger or two, Fabe," Gideon Weasley replied.

"And where are you…" – "…off to, kiddies?" They said in stereo.

"Hospital," Magnus whispered back.

"Ahhh!" The Twins nodded.

"They'll never make it alone, Fabe," Gideon predicted.

"Ickle Firsties that they are, Giddy," Fabian agreed.

"Come and learn from the masters, then, boys!" They said together.

"Where were _you_ two going?" Ewan wondered.

"To your place," They replied in stereo again. Magnus found it rather annoying.

"Are those fresh sugar biscuits…" – "…that we smell?" They asked.

"Three dozen," Magnus replied, "Enough for all of us!"

"Tally ho!" The Twins breathed, tying Magnus' sack to his gown's sash and each of them taking a Firstie's hand. They slunk along the walls, and Magnus was impressed with their Disillusion Charms. They were also counting. On the count of twelve, they stopped Ewan, hoisted Magnus up and over, then went back for the plump boy with a huff.

"Quicksand Tiles," the Twins whispered. "We should know…" – "…as our folks market them!"

They counted tiles, which were almost too large to jump for a Firstie, and then stairs. Every twelfth stair was a Sinking Step, another WWW product. Magnus found it odd that a company with so many banned products would be marketing others to the very schools that had banned them!

"Yon corridor be clear, young squires!" The portrait of Sir Cadogan informed them, having recognized the Twins.

They made their way down the corridor, peering around the corner. Faint wandlight was dimming at the far end, and the shape of a short, stout silhouette was just going 'round the far corner.

"This is the tricky part, fellows," The Twins advised, "Door alarm!"

"Fortunately for us…" – "…it's a WWW product too!"

The Twins carefully disarmed it by tapping the uppermost hinge five times and saying "Alohamora!" Fabian oil-Charmed it, just in case.

The Hospital Wing was dimly lit by the waning moon, as the curtains were all open. There were very small torches in each corner as well, providing just enough light for a patient to be able to see where he was, or for Madame Pomfrey to get to him without rousing the whole Wing.

"Mag," Fabian whispered in his ear. "What do you know about cousin Rigel?"

Magnus looked at them both. "He's ill," Magnus replied. "Nervous collapse, perhaps, after that bit with the Howler?"

"Good enough," Gideon agreed.

"Magnus?" Rónán whispered, "Is that you? I smell biscuits!"

"Wolf's nose," The Twins stifled a laugh.

They made their way to Rónán's bed. Magnus unloaded the biscuits, pulled a few small bottles of milk from his pockets, then went to get Rigel.

He shook him awake gently, unsure of how ill he was. "Can you get up?" Magnus hissed in his ear.

"Of _course_ I can get up!" Rigel retorted.

"SHHHHH! C'mon, then, I've brought biscuits!" Magnus informed him. "Is Sebastian still here?"

"Yeah, but brace yourself, Mag. He's in his other shape, you know?"

"I don't want any biscuits, thank you," Sebastian rasped from behind his screen, his voice punctuated by odd clicks. "Don't come over here!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Rigel hissed at him. "It's not like we've never seen a Veela before! Hell, Uncle Louis is one, and so are all his daughters!"

Sebastian seemed to be thinking about that. They heard him sniff. "I can't get out of bed, wing traction, you see," He finally answered.

"So we move the party to 'Bastian's bed," The Twins decided, so they did that.

In the dim light, they could see the avian form suspended, face down, with his leathery wing on the right spread fully. A blanket covered his lower half, and other than the crest with some feathers on the back of his head, he wasn't that shocking of a sight.

"The shadows almost make it look like you're wearing Batman's cape," Magnus observed.

"Who's Batman?" Rónán asked.

"Muggle comic book character," the Twins explained. "Highly collectable."

"Give us a biscuit then," Sebastian said, "In case you didn't notice, my arms are in the same muscle groups with the wings now."

"Good thing you've got a short beak," Rigel pointed out.

"So what'r you in for, Rigel?" Rónán wondered. "Your dad wouldn't tell us anything?"

Rigel didn't reply at once. He nibbled his biscuit thoughtfully. Then he took a drink of milk. "I've got a congenial defect," he finally announced.

"'Congenital'?" Magnus clarified.

"Would this have something…" – "…to do with your hair and eyes?" The Twins asked.

"Yeah," Rigel mumbled.

"Odd," The Twins wondered, "Since all we Weasleys…" – "…are just perfect!"

Magnus' head spun, but he didn't dare ask. Unfortunately, Ewan didn't have such manners.

"So you're like, turning into a full ginger?" Ewan asked, "Instead of a light one?"

"No, it's more than that," Rigel replied with a sigh, but he didn't elaborate.

"Drink, please," Sebastian cut in, rotating his head nearly one hundred-eighty degrees around to look at them, much like an owl could!

"Neat trick!" Rónán commented, "Better than shaking water off like a dog!"

"Among other things…" – "…that dogs can do," the Twins snickered.

Sebastian's face was just as Ewan remembered it – large black eyes, a hooked beak, and feathers beginning at the base of his regal crown.

Magnus decided to change the subject. "So when are you getting out?" He asked Rónán.

"Hopefully tomorrow," the small boy replied with a wince, "She says my colon scope was clear."

The Twins groaned, but didn't offer to explain what _that _procedure entailed!

"Well, _I'm_ leaving tomorrow, like it or not," Rigel added, "And if she won't give me my clothes, I'll go starkers! I hate it in here!"

"Wish I could go," Sebastian muttered. "I've got to be in bed for two or three more days, at least."

"We'll come see you every day!" Magnus promised, as they finished off the milk and biscuits.

There were three left. Magnus wrapped them and left them with a note on the small stand near Madame Pomfrey's office door.

"Thanks, mates," Sebastian whispered.

"You all better go," Rónán gasped, "I hear something!"

"Love those Part-Human ears!" The Twins agreed.

"Good luck!" Rigel wished them.

On the way downstairs, they heard something in the distance from the opposite staircase. It sounded like it was coming from the third floor corridor. It was an almost woody, thumping sound with an odd rhythm.

Torches flared to life above them as that floor lit up.

"Run for it!" The Twins advised, casting Mobilicorpus and towing them along to avoid the traps. They jumped a banister and slid, flying off the end and passing right though the Fat Friar – who didn't even notice them.

"We got lucky!" The Twins were panting as they ducked behind the tapestry to the kitchen.

"Rigel _wished_ us _good _luck," Magnus reminded them.

"Odd choice of words," Fabian observed, once they'd arrived safely in the kitchen.

"Very much so," Gideon agreed, as they gathered up some plunder from the Elves, who'd just returned to begin planning breakfast.

"Get outs, goes!" Tweaky warned them. "Two-thirty! Teachers time to sneaks!" He wrung his hands and grabbed the twins' hands. "No times! No times!" And then Tweaky vanished with them in a swirl of Apparation.

Not a minute later, and the kitchen door opened.

"P-professor Potter!" Magnus gasped.

Harry Potter took in the sight of the two Hufflepuffs, assorted Elves, and a few stray biscuits. He took one. "You, bed," he told Ewan. Then he turned to Magnus. "You, sit," he pointed at the worktable, flicking his wand to slide a stool over to it.

As he sat down, Magnus saw his appearance subtly shift again, to that of Henry Griffiths.

"The Elves will see you!" Magnus gasped.

"They know, and they're bound to not tell," Henry assured him. Then he pulled out a different wand. It was shorter and lighter than the holly wand. Henry gave it a shake. "You there, old man?" He asked the wand's tip.

"I'm _always_ here. You must be in the kitchen," Harry Potter's voice rasped, and Magnus remembered the cave-like cellar where they'd taken him the night he'd been bitten. He could picture the cranky old man with green eyes, glasses, gray messy hair, and the scar on his forehead. "Bit of static. Turn your head and aim your glasses at the boy so I can see him."

"Right," Henry replied. "Just chatting with the Gove boy. He's in Hufflepuff, you know."

"Yes, I know, I can see him now," Harry answered. "Hufflepuff, with the Malfoy boy and the werewolf and the Veela. What about the fat kid?"

"Scott's _fully_ human, Harry," Henry said, "the only one I think."

"Rigel is!" Magnus supplied.

"**He** _thinks_ he is," Harry's voice countered. "Why do you _think_ he's in Hospital?"

"How did you know, sir?" Magnus asked.

"I know everything that goes on at Hogwarts. It's my business to know," Harry informed him. "I'm connected to the alarm system there, Henry's glasses via a Video Charm, and the Portrait Network. Sir Cadogan, Dumbledore, the Fat Lady and Violet are most helpful, if not tiring."

"But how did you know about us?" Magnus insisted.

"You all trade Chocolate Frog Wizard Cards, don't you? All I need is for one of you to have one of me. Aaron Jordan has two of me; he traded one to Erik Bär for Ron Weasley. Would you also like to know who wets his bed in Ravenclaw, too?"

"Erm, no," Magnus decided, finding that to be a very devious thing to do to children. "Rigel would say it was a Slytherin thing to do," Magnus retorted with a huff.

"I almost _was _in Slytherin," Harry informed him.

"Well, I _am_," Henry added.

Harry sighed. "Where did I go wrong?" He lamented, as the door opened again. Henry grabbed the holly wand, and his appearance changed back to that of Harry's.

A short, portly man stood in the doorway. His wand was lit, his face red, and he was panting. "Third floor corridor, left side, intruder, got away, sir, and no one detected. That's the odd thing?" Caretaker Smith announced, wiping his face on his sleeve.

"Wha's up there?" Magnus asked.

"Wha's _he_ doing here?" Smith asked of the boy.

"He lives here," _Harry_ rolled his eyes. "I think he's an insomniac."

"Oh, are those fresh biscuits?" Smith asked, and Magnus slid the plate over to him as the Elves continued to bustle about and plan breakfast.

"I made them, sir," Magnus informed him.

"Did you?" Smith wondered.

"Third floor corridor?" Magnus reminded Harry.

"Not much up there, as the library extends over it," Harry told the boy, "But there's one row of rooms for storage, then the back side of a few staff living quarters. And a shortcut to an entirely separate emergency shelter/cellar." He cleared his throat. "That's classified by the way!"

"What do you store there?" Magnus asked.

"This and that," Smith informed him bluntly. "Who _is_ he, your sidekick?"

"In a way," Harry smiled at Magnus. He looked at his watch. "It's near three, boy. Time for you to go to bed."

Magnus debated on whether to tell him about the odd sounds that were certainly not footsteps, however. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it had sounded like a muffled pounding.

And what had Old Harry meant when he'd said that Rigel only thought he was human?

"But sir?" Magnus protested.

"BED!" Harry pointed to the door, "You fall asleep in DADA tomorrow, and you'll _wish_ you hadn't!"

As Magnus got into bed, he realized that they'd not finished talking about Rigel. He didn't have time to ponder it, however, as the fresh Somnolence Charm that Sonny had left on his pillow got him and put him to sleep.

By Thursday afternoon, just in time for more flying lessons, Sebastian was released from Hospital. His arm was out of the sling, and he looked perfectly normal again. For the rest of the Hufflepuffs, it had taken every ounce of willpower to ignore Adams' inquiries about why Sebastian was absent from class for three days. But as Magnus didn't want to spend the entire year doing dishes, he restrained himself.

For Sebastian, having his friends' acceptance and their repeated visits had been very important. In fact, although they wouldn't ever admit it, his return to the Cellar had been quite a misty affair. Even Dr. Petit was impressed with his recovery, and the Veela boy didn't even get upset when she prescribed spending time in his alternate form and getting his wing up to flight tolerance again. She conferred with Hagrid on the subject, who was nearly beside himself in anticipation of Sebastian's physical therapy.

"Where'r _they_ going?" Adams snorted, as Sebastian was excused to leave their flying lesson to go with a delighted Hagrid.

"Flying," Ewan informed him.

"Freaks," Adams huffed, and that was that.

Connor Poynter seemed to be avoiding the Hufflepuffs altogether, and Magnus was a bit disappointed in that. While he didn't join in with Adams' insults, he didn't say anything, either. Magnus _did _notice that he talked to Lucas now, though, and even sat by him at the Slytherin table for meals when Lucas wasn't sitting with them at the Hufflepuff table.

Rigel was also not so forthcoming. Magnus and the others noticed, however, that he never raised his hand in Charms class, and that he hardly ever spoke to his father. He did, however, throw himself into his flying lessons in the advanced group. His smaller size gave him an edge as well, and it wasn't long into Thursday's lesson that he got into an impromptu race with Adams and nearly crashed his broomstick into a wall during a pull-up maneuver that could only be described as suicidal. Adams dubbed him a "nutter", and it seemed that his attitude only worsened after that. He also trashed the school broom in the process, breaking the shaft under the G-forces.

"I got _lucky_," was all Rigel had to say to a very upset Professor Wood. "But I _won_!"

That evening at dinner, as the usual eclectic mix of boys gathered at the end of the Hufflepuff table, Rigel was absent.

"Where do you think he is?" Garrett Alcott of Ravenclaw asked.

"You don't suppose he's ill again, do you?" Lucas asked, cocking his head as Connor Poynter came in late. Surprisingly, he walked up to the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey, thanks again, Magnus," was all he said before going to sit by himself at his own House table. But he did point at his ear.

"What was that all about?" Ewan wondered.

"You know, Adams, I _really _don't care!" They then heard Poynter telling his Housemate.

Magnus smiled, but still wondered where Rigel was.

That evening, Magnus went to Harry's office after dessert – a rather disappointing and dry pudding.

"Sir, about the other night?" He offered.

"The noise that Smith was chasing?" Harry wondered. Magnus nodded.

"How'd you know?" The boy asked.

"I followed a trail of sugar biscuit crumbs," Harry replied. "Shut the door." Magnus did that, and Harry pulled out the holly wand and placed it on his desk. "What have you got, Watson?" Henry then asked, as his appearance shifted.

"I heard that noise too, and it wasn't footsteps," Magnus began. "It was a like a soft pounding, and it was even, like a rhythmic beat. It was on the same floor as the library, and where you teachers store things too, you said?"

Henry nodded. "Go on?"

"We've got a missing library book," Magnus continued, "And I was thinking, after Professor Malfoy fixed my shoes…"

"Which somehow got caked with Hippogriff manure?" Henry cut in.

Magnus nodded knowingly and grinned. "The stolen book is a pretty common one, sir. But the noise came from the third floor, which is where the library is. You store stuff there, it's out of bounds on that side, and Rigel wasn't at dinner. He's in the library right now."

"Connected, you think?" Henry wondered.

"And he said it was a 'congenital defect'," Magnus went on. "He changed, his hair and eyes, you know. And Connor, Poynter I mean, was telling me about meeting Rigel's mum when they were kids in primary?"

"When you were helping him muck out the barn?" Henry smiled.

Magnus just nodded.

"That was a kind thing to do, Mag. I know Poynter has problems. Now, what do you know about Madame Malfoy?" Henry asked the boy.

"She's Irish, but we _all _know _that_ now from her Howler. She doesn't like our House, or our Founder. And Rigel's appearance changed into what Connor told me about her – hair, eyes, freckles. Connor was scared of her, he said. And when I ask Rigel what was wrong with him, all he'll say is he has that 'congenital condition'." Magnus paused. "She didn't bring him to Platform 9 ¾ either, and his father was already here, so he had to go with his Gran Rose. And he's in the library right _now_!"

"But Rigel has his own textbook, which anyone could buy cheap, used," Henry countered. "Why would he take the school copy? Why would _anyone_ take it, for that matter?"

"Is it an older edition with something cut out of the new ones?" Magnus wondered.

"The first rule of investigation," Henry explained, "Is observation of the odd, which you've got down. The second is connecting the dots. To answer your question - no. The First Years' spellbook never changes. Good hunch, though!" He added, "So it would make no sense for Rigel to take it, and he was also in Hospital the night of the sounds that Smith was chasing, and while you were delivering biscuits. Also," Henry went on, "There is a Charm called 'Homenum Revelio' that would reveal the trail or presence of a person. Smith said there was no one in that corridor, and the Ghosts all tell me that Peeves was busy writing bad words on the blackboard in the Transfiguration classroom."

"But Rigel's in the…" Magnus began again.

"You're spying on your friend?" Henry interrupted. "How very Slytherin of you, Magnus!"

"I'm worried about him, sir," Magnus replied, "And getting back to his mum? Connor thinks she's a _Leprechaun_." Magnus lowered his voice, despite the fact that it was little more than gossip.

Henry gaped at him, and Magnus more than noted the look that flashed over his face for just a second. "Erm, she's too tall," he finally said. "We've met."

"Would your Reveal-oh Charm trace a Part-Human?" Magnus wondered.

Henry looked thoughtful. "No, come to think of it. One night, when Teddy – Potter – that is, the werewolf, ran off when he was little, it didn't locate _him_." He thought for a moment. "Hang on." He raised his holly wand to his throat. "Sonorus! **RONAN GREYSON, REPORT TO PROFESSOR POTTER'S OFFICE **_**NOW**_**!"** His voice filled the school.

"Sir?" A confused Rónán asked a few minutes later.

"Sprout that tail and ears again, son," Harry ordered him. Rónán did that. "Homenum Revelio!"

The Charm reported nothing. Harry dismissed the boy and put down the wand.

"So it wouldn't find a Part-Leprechaun, either, would it, sir?" Magnus deduced.

"You think Madame Malfoy broke in and stole a book?" Henry wondered. "No connection, she could buy out the publisher," he told the boy.

"So she _is_ a Leprechaun, then -or partly?" Magnus deduced.

"I didn't say that," Henry countered. "The Malfoys have money."

"But Rigel's skipped _dinner_ to be on the _third _floor, in the library, at the scene of the crime!" Magnus insisted. "And Connor said…"

"Here," Henry caved in, handing him a corridor pass he'd scribbled out. "Go on up, show this to Madame Hicks, and check out a cookbook or something. Make it look good, kid, and I'll be along shortly. And look for anything out of the ordinary, no matter what. You won't see me, but I'll be there."

"Right then!" Magnus smiled, "One more thing?" Henry nodded. "Teach me that Charm, sir?"

It only took about ten minutes for Magnus to learn it, he was so keen to do it, and it wasn't that hard. By that time, the library was almost ready to close for the night.

"Homenum Revelio," he whispered at the door, and only one feeling came back to him. "Madame Hicks," he told himself, just as the door opened.

"Hey, Mag!" Rigel Malfoy greeted him, "Sorry 'bout dinner, but there's always leftovers, right?" He didn't stop, either. He just kept on walking.

A small bit of paper fell out of one of his books.

"Rigel!" Magnus called after him.

"Starved!" Rigel called back. "Later?"

"Later," Magnus nodded, as he picked up the paper and went on in.

Madame Hicks was putting out torches and candles.

"What do you need, and MAKE IT FAST!" She shouted at Magnus.

"A cookbook?" He showed her his pass from his professor.

"He'll be right along, it says?" She wondered, "All right, wait for him over there," she pointed to a table. "Cookbook, you say? My, what I wouldn't give for a good Spotted Dick! The Elves never get the custard right and scrimp on the sugar and currants! Blow out the candles when you leave!"

"They can't make a simple Spotted Dick?" Magnus wondered, as he sat and looked at the paper Rigel had dropped.

It was a drawing with some letters. It was a square with a cross in the center, dividing it into four smaller squares, like a grid. On the top outside of the big square were the letters "X" and "y". On the left were the letters "L" and "X". In the upper left little square were the letters "LX". Next to it were the letters "Ly". Below "Ly" was "Xy". Below the "LX" was "XX". Scribbled in the margin was "3 to 1 ratio".

There were also names written in Rigel's tiny, neat script: 'Helene' was at the bottom "XX" block. 'Aldebaran' was in the "Xy" block. There was no name in the "LX" block, although it did say 'girl', and in the "Ly" block was written 'Rigel?' with a question mark.

Magnus thought hard.

"Congenital condition," he told himself, "We know that. Library, books…" He went to Madame Hicks' desk, and checked her logbook. The last entry was "Rigel Malfoy, Hufflepuff, First Year, **Studies in Magical Genetics**." There was a one-week due-back date as well. "Heavy reading for a Firstie?" Magnus mumbled to himself, "Congenital? Geni-what? Genes? _Genetics_?"

"Indeed," Harry agreed, appearing out of nowhere beside him. Magnus jumped. He saw his teacher holding a paisley cape of some kind, and he crooked a finger at the boy. He then threw it over their heads, and Magnus saw his disembodied hand for a moment before he pulled it in. "Muffliato!" Harry hissed, "Now we can talk. It's an Invisibility Cloak, belongs to Old Harry."

"What are we doing?" Magnus asked, showing him the paper of Rigel's.

"Waiting, connecting dots," Harry explained. "How long would it take you to read your spellbook, if you just _read_ it?" He asked.

"About a week, I think, sir?" Magnus answered, "If you _just_ read through it."

"Correct," Henry agreed, "It's been about a week. Grade Two is still there, on the shelf, and Rigel is gone with _his_ own copy of One and didn't take Two. That eliminates him as a suspect. You heard that noise last night, and Smith interrupted someone on this floor while Rigel was in Hospital eating biscuits. The Charm I just taught you didn't show anyone then, so what we have is a Part-Human, or Non-Human, that wanted that book. My guess is that he or she came back last night for Two, but was interrupted by either you or Smith or the Twins," Henry smirked, "and fled. Perhaps they'll be back tonight, I wonder?"

"Why not jus' pinch a kid's copy?" Magnus wondered._ He knew about the Twins?_

"Too risky," Henry surmised.

"Brilliant!" Magnus breathed, as Henry muttered an incantation and the candles all went out.

"Now, this could take a while," Henry added. "I'll walk you to the corridor. I want you to head back to the Cellar with your book, I'll fill in the log that you checked it out."

"But…but?" Magnus spluttered, put off that he wasn't going to be allowed on the stakeout.

"Don't you have something to cook tonight?" Henry smiled, nodding at the front desk.

"Yes, I think I do!" Magnus smiled, as he slipped out from the under the Cloak and headed off.

When he arrived in the Cellar, he realized that he'd forgotten to mention to the professor that his Charm couldn't 'see' Rigel. He stopped outside his dormitory room door, heart pounding. _Maybe I just did it wrong,_ he thought.

"Homenum Revelio," he whispered, flicking his wand.

Only one impulse came back.

_Ewan_, Magnus thought dismally, sensing his presence.

He sighed and went on in.

His other three roomies were busy telling Sebastian about all he'd missed.

"I think you dropped this, Rigel," Magnus handed the "X-y-L" paper back to him.

"Oh, thanks! It's …erm…just a note to myself," Rigel smiled.

Magnus met his gaze, staring at his pale blue, almost colorless eyes. Rigel looked just like he had when they'd first met at Kings Cross.

_But they were green last night,_ he thought.

At midnight, Magnus made up only a dozen biscuits to put in carefully wrapped little boxes, four to a box, and sent them off with Sonny. Then he went back to bed.

On Friday morning, Magnus said nothing more about the previous night. He just kept his eyes open. The only excitement of the day was just before CoMC class, which was canceled. There had been something of an explosion at Hagrid's place, but Headmaster Weasley assured everyone that it was simply an ale brewing mishap. Rigel took them for tea, but Hagrid was in no fit state to entertain, what with the mess out back. He also refused their help in cleaning up. After dinner, Magnus did his homework, told his friends the plan, and took a nap.

At half eleven o'clock, they were in the kitchen cooking.

"Preheat the oven to 300°F," Magnus said to himself, as the boys gathered ingredients. Rónán found twelve glass baking cups in the cabinet and set them into pans just large enough to hold them. At the stove, Rigel was simmering raw milk over medium-low heat. Ewan was whisking fresh brown eggs and separated egg yolks in a large bowl, while Sebastian poured in pure cane sugar and real vanilla. When it was ready, the two boys carefully whisked it into the simmering milk.

"Tha's got it," Magnus decided, as he poured the mixture through a fine strainer into the glass cups and then sprinkled nutmeg on it. "Boiling water!" He ordered, and Rónán carefully levitated a pot to pour it in. Using a levitation Charm, Magnus put the glass dishes, now filled with raw custard, into the boiling water. "Little more water, stop!" He said, when the water was halfway up the cups.

"Luckily we won't have to wait for it to cool!" Magnus said, as it began to bake for half an hour. Then they turned their attention to the pudding.

The somewhat challenging part.

Sebastian filled two large heavy 8x6" pots with one and one half inches water and put their tight lids on them. Magnus had put egg-poaching rings in the bottoms of each pot. Ewan was kneading fruit and lemon zest into the suet pastry dough they'd found in the walk-in cooler into a ball. Magnus nibbled the raw dough and deemed it acceptable. Rónán tossed in some more dried currants and raisins. Rigel buttered the pudding in the molds and flattened the tops. Magnus topped the dough with rounds of buttered wax paper, buttered sides down, and covered the tops of the molds with heavy-duty foil, crimping it tightly around edges.

Magnus' custards were done. He pulled them from the oven, shut if off, and cooled them to perfection with a wave of his hand.

The water was boiling as they gently levitated the pudding molds onto the platform. They steamed the pudding, covered, over simmering water for an hour and a half, adding water, until the pudding was golden and puffed. Very carefully, five Charms transferred the puddings in their molds to a rack and let them stand for five minutes. They discarded the foil and wax paper and ran a thin knife around edge of each pudding. They put a plate over the first mold, ever so carefully flipped it, and then pulled the mold off. They did the next one, yielding enough for a large serving for each of them and their guests.

The two puddings were perfect.

It was midnight.

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME?" Madame Hicks asked loudly, as she entered through the tapestry. She inhaled deeply of the heavenly aroma. Then she saw it. "Is that a Spotted Dick?" She gasped. "With sweet egg custard?"

"JUST FOR YOU!" Magnus shouted at her.

"Oh, you don't have to yell, boy, that's all an act to aggravate the students!" She laughed. "I wondered why a boy would want a cookbook!" She looked quite misty, and the boys got her a stool. She sat, and was served.

"What's going _on_ in here?" Connor Poynter asked, as he and Lucas Bole came through the tapestry. "I mean, thanks for the biscuits, Mag, but I almost lost a leg in a Quicksand Tile, if not for Bole here, and…" then he saw Madame Hicks. "Oh, boy," he groaned.

"Oh, come in, come in, boys!" The librarian waved to him. "Did you invite them, too, Magnus? Such a cute little note with the ribbon and those biscuits?" She asked, seeming not to care that these students were out of bed at midnight and serving pudding.

"I _did_," Magnus said.

"Why?" Rigel asked with a sneer, glaring at Poynter.

Connor seemed unaffected, however, as he gaped at the pudding. Magnus realized, with a pang, that he couldn't hear them. He'd had his ear crystals out for bed, and was very lucky he hadn't been caught. But then again, Lucas _could_ hear extremely well. They were the perfect pair.

"Because he _needed_ to be invited," Magnus informed Rigel.

"Rigel, there's a lot you don't know about Connor – or Magnus, I wonder?" Lucas informed him, as Connor obliviously ate his pudding.

"Oh?" Rigel's coppery eyebrows went up over his green eyes.

Lucas gasped, scratching at his own ear. Then he turned his attention to his pudding.

"What's all this?" Madame Pomfrey asked, as she stepped through the tapestry. Everyone flinched, except for Connor.

"It's a Spotted Dick!" Madame Hicks handed her a serving. "Can you imagine, having one at midnight?

The boys snickered.

The tapestry opened again.

"Are you lot coming to Astronomy class or not?" Professor Stratton demanded. Magnus handed him a serving. "Apparently not," he smiled.

**Endnotes:**

Is Lucas afraid of Rigel?

Niamh (Malfoy)-Gaelic:'bright', Princess of the land of Promise who left with Ossian for the Otherworld. Rigel's mother. More on Rigel's mum's family names, inspirations:  wiki/Ossian

wiki/Homenum_Revelio - which can't detect magical creatures…like Part-Humans


	8. Chapter 8-Rocky Road

8-Rocky Road  
*

**A/N: 15+ warning** for a bit more crude boy-humor and medical humor. Remember, Rónán had worms, he's proud of it, and it's a bit gross. Bullying is mentioned, not portrayed, and nudity is implied with an embarrassing shower moment.

Magnus Gove was not in a good mood.

For a solid week, he'd slept through the night – all night long – without so much as waking up once to even have a pee! For Magnus VI, or for any male Gove in history, for that matter, this was highly unusual and quite suspect. Naturally, this sleeping all night long had thrown quite the spanner [wrench] into his midnight feasting-works. He was very behind in inviting both teachers and students. At first, he'd thought it was the stress of coming to Hogwarts, and that he'd needed the sleep. Then he realized he'd never been all that great of a sleeper before. Magnus therefore blamed this disastrous turn of events on his pillow, which in turn laid the blame on Sonny the House Elf.

At least, Magnus thought, _that_ was one mystery that was easily solved.

"_Sonny will be charming your pillows, he will!"_ The Elf had warned him.

Granted, being deprived of their midnight treats surely hadn't harmed the boys, but they missed them already. And the Hufflepuff Firsties weren't the only ones to notice this, either. Their Prefect, Marjorie MacMillan noticed on Wednesday that there had been no plates of biscuits to be found in the Common Room, or Fairy Cakes scattered about. While only a very select few at Hogwarts knew that Magnus and his friends were the mysterious "Midnight Chefs", everyone else certainly knew that the House Elves _weren't_.

Sunday evening's dessert of layered yellow cake with chocolate frosting was quite dry, and the icing solidified at room temperature and cracked. It also left a somewhat bitter aftertaste. "Really? Just…_really_!?" Magnus raved.

"Is der somet'ing wrong wit'it?" Erik Bär wondered, having demolished his serving. Several more were shoved at him.

"Werebears eat anything," Rónán laughed.

"You can sure tell _you _didn't make this, Mag," Daniel Birken told his friend at the Hufflepuff table.

"You can certainly tell that _Gove_ didn't make this," Madame Iceni commented at the Staff table.

"I thought that Gove washed dishes?" Professor Orion Malfoy wondered.

"He does, among _other _things," Harry Potter answered. "You're actually going to eat that?"

"What?" Orion mumbled around a mouthful, taking a large drink of milk. "Wish my wife could bake like this. I have to go to Mum's for a good dessert!"

"_That's_ desperation," Headmaster Hugo Weasley commented, shaking his head.

"So you haven't gotten an invitation yet?" Harry asked Orion.

"Invitation to what?" Orion replied.

"I miss my Gran Molly," Hugo sighed. "Sometimes I think she could spin food out of thin air!" He added wistfully.

"That would violate one of Gamp's elemental laws of transfiguration," Professor Peakes pointed out.

"Bloody Slytherin that _he_ was," Hugo sighed again. "Why'd he have to go and make up such a silly law?"

They all just looked at the old man as if he were mad.

But those that had eaten Magnus' desserts knew.

And lamented.

By Friday morning, _someone_ had had quite enough.

"Of course you know, _this _means war!" Magnus declared, as he entered the kitchen that next morning.

The Elves, who were busy making breakfast, all froze.

"We is having a war?" Tweaky asked. "With who's?"

"**Me**!" Magnus informed them, as his four mates gasped. "_Tonight_! Right when you lot go to make dessert! You and me, no magic – just the mixing bowl and the wisk!"

The Elves were shocked. Tweaky dropped a large copper pot on his foot. "OWWWWW!" he yelped, ears waving and eyes wide.

"_You_ Charmed my pillow!" Magnus accused Sonny.

"_You_ was being out your beds too much!" Sonny defended himself. "And cooking up too much groceries!"

"Well _someone _has to!" Magnus replied. "That cake was a…an _abomination_!" He gesticulated.

"What's that?" Ewan asked.

"It was bad," Rigel nodded at him.

"Wasn't that bad," Ewan countered. They all glared at him.

"You will get fat," Tweaky warned them.

"HEY!" Ewan exclaimed.

"Elf, 1, Ewan, 0," Sebastian laughed.

"You thinks _you_ can outcooks _us_!?" Sonny gasped, as a buzz of murmuring ran through the lot of them. "Some of us has been cooking for a hundred years!"

"And they've not got it right _yet_," Rigel mumbled behind his hand. The Hufflepuffs snickered.

"Here's the deal, Sonny," Magnus informed him. "If I win, you stop Charming my pillow to keep me asleep, _and _let me cook when and what I want to!"

Sonny's eyes grew even wider. A few of the older Elves fainted.

Sonny, however, being as old as he was and having been raised with a generous degree of freedom by Teddy Lupin, stood his ground. "And if Sonny wins?"

Magnus thought about it as his friends looked on in disbelief.

"If you win, I'll do cleanup _every_ night – after my detention is over – for ninety days of next term – after Christmas Holidays, when my detention for hitting Adams is over! _All _of it – dishes, pans, sinks, counters, tables, the lot of it!"

Sonny stuck out his hand with a "harrumph!"

"You is on!" The Elf accepted the challenge.

The rest of the Elves fainted.

Sonny revived them.

"But how do we know who wins?" Ewan piped up, "Without letting the whole school know?"

"The proof of the pudding is under the crust," Magnus gave them a very Slytherinish smile. "We'll know by how much dessert gets sent _back_ when everyone leaves the Great Hall!"

"Seems honest to me," Sebastian nodded.

"Just keep the chocolate to a minimum, please?" Rónán asked. "I don't wanna get worms again!"

"One of us will choose a random recipe from the book! Tha'll be fair!" Rigel then blinked at him. "You can't _get_ worms like that!"

"Well I got 'em _somewhere_!" Rónán protested, "And I had all my wolf meds at home _before _I come here!"

"Rabies too?" Ewan had to ask.

"Shot in the arse," Rónán nodded. "Distemper, Parvovirus, Leptospirosis, Lyme disease, West Nile, heart-worm tablets…"

"Stop! We _get_ it," Sebastian cut him off, pulling a face.

"The joys of being a Part-Human," Rigel rolled his eyes.

"Dessert, _tonight_," Magnus reminded Sonny, as several Elves fainted again!

*  
The cooking and pillow Charms weren't the only things that were bothering Magnus. All week long, he'd been jotting down notes, just as Professor Potter had told him to, about odd happenings around Hogwarts. Well, at least things that Magnus _considered_ odd. And that was quite a list! So far, he'd come up with no suspects in the book theft, either.

But then again, neither had Professors Potter nor Malfoy.

He'd also not come up with anything new about Rigel Malfoy.

Therefore, Magnus had two unsolved mysteries, possibly even connected, and there was nothing like a mystery to aggravate a Gove.

"Rule number three," Harry informed him, when Magnus lingered after class one day, "Is research. Once you observe, then investigate, you research the subject to see if there are more clues lying about that you wouldn't otherwise recognize. Patience, Watson, slow and easy."

Magnus still had no idea who "Watson" was though.

Research, however, meant "Library", and Magnus was (thanks to a timely Spotted Dick) well in Madame Hicks' good graces. In fact, the boy practically had the run of the place. It came as no surprise to her when Magnus began checking out obscure books, and she wrote this off as Muggleborn curiosity. After all, some of her best clients were Muggleborns, fascinated by their new world of Magic as they were. She was perplexed, however, when Magnus borrowed **Leapin' Leprechauns – a Lovely Ledger of Lore**. "And he's not even Irish," she wondered. Madame Hicks had no problem with the old standby **Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them** by Rolf Scamander, fully updated and annotated by his wife, Luna, but she was perplexed by **Studies in the Development & Upbringing of Juvenile Werewolves** by Hermione Granger-Weasley (first edition, which Magnus used for comparison with his copy). She drew the line, however, at **Beyond Beer – Brew it Yerself**! By Rubeus Hagrid. She was quite disappointed to see the boy returning the cookbook, too.

"When will you get time to read all that?" She wondered.

"Keeps me up at night," Magnus shrugged. "_And_ I can prop it up on the sink to read while I do dishes."

Such was Magnus' current position, and he still wasn't solving anything.

So while Magnus was cranky, Rigel Malfoy it seemed, at least for the past week, was back to his old self. His hair and complexion were back to their "confused albino-ginger" state, his freckles were faded to negligibility, and his eyes were only faintly blue again and not glittering green. His haircut Charms, probably now being performed by his father, were even holding throughout the day.

This was one thing that Magnus added to his list: Why didn't Rigel just have the Hogsmeade barber – who visited the school every month – cut it manually with scissors as they all (except for Sebastian) did? Even Lucas Bole had gotten his hair cut - short, spiked, and trendy – which fully exposed his ears.

So far, Magnus' 'shopping list' of oddities contained the following: the stolen book, Ewan's runaway broomstick, Rigel's Howler, Rigel's mum's seemingly religious dislike of Hufflepuff, Professor Potter's expression when Magnus had thought Mrs. Malfoy was a Leprechaun, Old Harry spying, the explosion at Hagrid's, Hagrid taking up woodcarving when he knew the Protean Charm, Aries the Centaur colt hanging out with Hagrid, Rigel checking out a book on magical genetics, his odd diagram note, Madame Hicks not really being nearly deaf, Connor Poynter – who WAS deaf, and the Part-or-Non-Human intruder that had been frightened off by either Smith or himself a week before.

All this, and the stolen book was still missing. Book Two, however, had _not_ been taken as predicted.

But the Queen Mother of them all, which had been bothering Magnus all week long, was the fact that the Hominem Revelio Charm couldn't detect Rigel.

It couldn't detect Rónán, who was a werewolf, nor Sebastian, who was a Veela. Magnus had also tried it when Lucas and Erik weren't paying attention. It didn't detect the Sprite or Werebear. It also didn't detect Hagrid, who was a half Giant.

"Maybe that's why some Wizards don't like Part-Humans?" Magnus wondered to himself. "They can sneak easier?" He was also sorely tempted to try it on other students, just to see if there were any other Part-Humans he didn't know about, but in the end he'd considered that very rude.

That was just the kind of boy Magnus was, after all.

But Magnus also wondered if the Charm could detect _him_?

One thing that Magnus _was_ relieved about, however, was the fact that Rigel was now speaking to him again.

For two days after the night that Magnus had invited Lucas and Connor to scoff on spotted dick and custard with the Madames Hicks and Pomfrey, Rigel hadn't spoken to Magnus. He'd not even looked at him. It had been painful, and even though Magnus had kept telling himself that his plan had worked, he'd still felt awful about upsetting an already delicate Rigel. He'd begun to wonder if exposing Connor's secret deafness to Madame Pomfrey, and ingratiating himself to the lady who ran the library, had been worth it or not. Things had come to a head on Monday morning in the showers, though, when Magnus had tried to apologize to Rigel again.

After all, _that_ was the kind of boy he was.

"I can't _stand _him, all right?!" Rigel had shouted at him. "You want to know _why_, Gove? I'll _tell_ you why! He's a right _mean_ little snake! _He's_ the reason, him _and _Adams, that I _wouldn't _be in Slytherin! And you know what? I was _expected_ to be! You heard how disappointed Mum is with me. All because of them being…being so mean to me all the time. Grandfather Scorpius is _really_ put off, too," Rigel had then leaned against the wall, biting his lower lip. Perhaps it was just the shampoo in his eyes, Magnus had wondered, but still…

"You could have picked Gryffindor?" Ewan had offered, quite tactlessly, which had earned him a hard nudge in the ribs by Rónán.

"Yeah, _sure_ I could have," Rigel had smiled wryly. "I'd have had _great_ luck there, what?" He'd snorted. "Me, a Malfoy who hides behind someone he hopes will be his new friends, just because his enemies are scared of them."

And the confession had come out.

"You chose Hufflepuff because you wanted _us_ to protect you?" Sebastian had gasped.

"N-no, it's not like that," Rigel had protested at first, "No. Yeah. Sort of," he fudged, "And…and you were all so…_interesting_? I mean, look at you lot! A Veela, a werewolf, a Muggleborn chef, and…Ewan?"

"Yesssss?" Ewan had prompted him, looking as if he might hit him at any time.

"Y-you're bigger than I am," Rigel had admitted, "You're big, for a Firstie. Hell, _everyone's _bigger than I am. They always picked on me for being so small and funny looking, and … and I just felt _safe _with you guys on the train, ALL RIGHT?! For the first bloody time, I felt safe and that someone _liked_ me – like I fit in! Then you went and invited HIM!"

The shower had continued to run over the trembling boy who wasn't looking at them any more.

They'd all just stared at Rigel, but Magnus had known what he'd meant.

He'd heard the same tearful confession from Connor only days before.

"Do you know what it's like to go to school every day, and have to hide your…," he coughed, "and get called names and laughed at? Or get Hexed if you turned your back? And _no one_ seemed to care? Not even your own folks? 'Be strong'? or 'Act like a Malfoy!' That's it? _That's_ all I get?"

It was Magnus who had spoken up.

"No, _I _don't know," he'd offered, "But Connor _does_. So that's why you picked on him, then? Here at Hogwarts? Because he did it to you in primary?"

"I…I didn't know he was ill," Rigel had mumbled.

There had been an awkward silence.

"I hate being the fat kid," Ewan had muttered, "I think I scare other kids 'cause I'm big."

"I never even _saw_ a human kid, until I came here," Rónán had added, "I thought everyone in the world was a werewolf until I was like six."

"I was taught at home by Maman and Pa-_pa,"_ Sebastian had said, "They could not take the chance of putting me in a human school."

"I only had one friend, and he left to come here," Magnus had then informed Rigel, "And Connor now doesn't have _any_." He had offered his hand. "But he could have _some_?"

And Rigel had taken it.

"Then he's got me beat," Rigel had admitted, just as the hot water had run out.

"No, I don't think so," Magnus had smiled at him.

"WHAT ARE LOT _DOING_ IN THERE?!" MacMillan had then screamed at them, which had brought an abrupt and mutually embarrassing end to an otherwise sentimental moment!

And so it was, a week without a good scoff, that the Hufflepuffs found themselves nearly late for **CoMC** class at Hagrid's. This time, however, it was Rónán who held them up, having had to run back to their room to fetch something to show Hagrid.

"What yeh'll be doin' today," Hagrid smiled at them, holding up a polished and gleaming bejeweled shell of some type, "Is polishing Firecrab shells! Now, Firecrabs are diff'rent from other crabs, and who can tell us why?"

Garrett Alcott of Ravenclaw raised his hand amidst the ooh-ing and ahh-ing about the lovely shell. "They live on land and don't like water?"

"Five points fer Ravenclaw!" Hagrid nodded happily, putting the shell back in his pocket and pulling out a bit of sandpaper. "And why else?"

"They breathe _fire_?" Aidan Adams rolled his eyes.

"YES!" Hagrid exclaimed, making them all jump. "Two points fer Slytherin."

"What?!" Adams protested. "_Two_?"

"Yeh didn't raise yer hand."

Connor Poynter snickered, but Adams said nothing else.

"Now, you'll need a Dragonhide rag, and some Sleekeasy's polish," he called upon the Hufflepuffs to distribute these items. "The crabs are in the paddock over there," he pointed to a stone wall that hadn't been there before. "First House done gets twenty more points and an "E" mark for the week!"

The students all approached the wall cautiously, many of them having older siblings who had warned them in advance about Hagrid's classes.

Adams was the first over the wall.

"How hard can it be to polish a cra-AIIIIIGGGGGHHHHH!" He then screamed, as a plume of fire shot up from behind the fence.

"Aquamenti!" Connor shouted, dousing Adams and several Firecrabs.

"Good one," Lucas Bole complimented him.

"Five points fer Slytherin, Poynter!" Hagrid called.

"Hagrid!" Rigel yelled, "THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!"

"Well of _course _they're _alive_!" Hagrid agreed, sitting down to work on sanding a very small, round bit of wood. "Yeh can't polish a dead shell and expect it ter hold a shine!"

"This is mad!" Fiona Finnigan cried, already nursing a badly singed finger or three.

Magnus grabbed one by the back legs and flipped it over, noting that the small 'pilot light' in the beast's front pincers had gone out.

"Tha's it, Mag!" Hagrid encouraged him, "Jus' like a tortoise! Flip him over!"

"Fill a large metal pot with water, moderately salted, and bring to a full rolling boil," Magnus said aloud, mainly to the Firecrab, who was clicking its pincers and desperately trying to re-ignite. "Toss the _LIVE_ CRABS IN! Remove when shells turn a vivid pink, strip off claws, and serve with melted garlic butter!"

"You _wouldn't_?" Lucas gasped.

"Try us!" Ewan added, as _his_ Firecrab tried to run away.

"They're _land_ crabs!" Garrett Alcott reminded him.

"Hagrid? Sorry I am late, I was chatting with a friend of Father's, and…" Aries' voice came from around the corner, "What _are _you doing?" Then he saw the class hard at work. "Oh!"

It was pandemonium.

Half of the students were fighting a Firecrab, while some were chasing them. Still, others were running _from _some of the more aggressive Firecrabs!

Adams' robe was on fire again, and Lucas extinguished him with a Charm that only a Water Sprite could have performed. The resulting mini-tsunami threw him back over the wall, and he lost his Firecrab.

Connor Poynter had his pincer-clicking beast down, but jumped back when the polish ignited on the Firecrab's shell. "FLAMMABLE POLISH!?" He shouted. "Hagrid, are you mad?!"

Miss Gaines and most of the girls had already given up, although Miss Finnigan seemed to be winning the battle with hers. Her crab was quite tractable once she began polishing its underside.

"I like Magnus' idea besser!" Erik Bär exclaimed, although he was having better luck than Aaron Jordan, whose Firecrab was currently dangling by a pincher from the Gryffindor's finger!

"Feeling lucky, Crab?" Rigel sneered at his victim. Then he pulled his wand. "IMMOBULUS!" He fired the Charm at them, and the Firecrabs all froze.

"Hufflepuff wins!" Hagrid declared. "I wondered when someone would think of that!"

The smoldering students all just stared at him as if he'd sprouted a second head.

"Well now yeh can polish 'em in peace!" Hagrid added.

When they were done, Hagrid asked if there were any questions, or if anyone else had encountered any magical creatures on the grounds so far. Lucas Bole mentioned his Sunday visit with the Merfolk. Hagrid gave Slytherin five more points for that, but they had still scored well behind Hufflepuff in their day's adventure.

"Ahem," Aries cleared his throat.

"You don't count, yer one'a'me students," Hagrid grinned at him, "They seen you already!"

Aries smiled at him.

Then Rónán pulled a glass jar out of his pocket and presented it to Hagrid. "Do _these _count?" He asked. Hagrid blinked.

"What is that, pickled noodles?" Magnus asked, wondering who in his right mind would pickle a noodle. Eggs, yes, but noodles?

"It's my roundworms!" Rónán smiled brightly. They all just stared at him. Several of the girls looked ill. Rónán explained their origins to a fascinated Hagrid and many disgusted students.

"Madame P. did _what_ to you?!" Aaron gasped.

"She stuck a hose up your b-…" Garrett Alcott began.

"You brought your _worms_?" Ewan exclaimed, interrupting, looking rather ill.

"Oh, dat is not gooooot," Erik gasped, nodding in sympathy.

"She let you _keep_ them?!" Connor gasped.

"My Gran has her gallstones in a jar," Garrett shrugged.

"Hey, technically, _I'm_ a magical creature!" Rónán smiled. "Do _**I **_get more points?"

"Erm, no," Hagrid decided. "Since yeh'all have got a Part-Human."

Magnus pricked up his ears. Hufflepuff, for certain. Slytherin – Lucas. Gryffindor, Erik. There was a Part-Human in Ravenclaw, then? Who was it?

"Yeah, see they live in your large intestine, and they…" Rónán began, but several of the girls, and a few squeamish boys, Lawrence included, screamed and ran off.

"Those came _out _of _you_?!" Adams asked, looking rather green. Then he got up, leaned over a bush, and vomited. "Merlin, I am so glad I'm a _real_ human! I'm outta here!"

"That _is_ disgusting," Aries agreed, shrugging, "But I've seen worse."

"Oh _deeeeear_," Hagrid breathed. "Erm…yeah! Class dismissed!" He called after the fleeing students, still staring in fascination at the jar of pickled worms. "You're sure yeh passed _these_?!" Hagrid held the jar up.

Fiona Finnigan then screamed and ran, leaving just the boys.

"Yeah, Madame P. said the dewormer didn't work, so she had to mix up this potion and give me a em-menna, you know?"

"A _what_?" Hagrid asked. Then it came to him. "OH!" His eyes went wide.

"Yeah, see, she took this white hose and stuck it up…"

"STOP!" Rigel waved his hands in front of his screwed-up face. "_Too_ much information, mate!" The boys all laughed at him.

"I don't doubt it," Hagrid nodded, and he _wasn't _laughing.

"Hagrid, what is it?" Magnus asked. "It was funny?"

"_This_ ain't funny," Hagrid said in a low voice. "An' it's also impossible!"

The boys went quiet.

"H-Hagrid?" Rónán squeaked, his keen nose sensing the change of the man's odor that signaled fear. Then Hagrid grabbed him up and hugged him. Hagrid was trembling.

"Hagrid, WHAT?!" Rigel prompted him.

"These are _Razor_worms," Hagrid informed them, putting the startled boy down and keeping the jar of worms. "Which means we've got Razorflies around here somewhere!"

"What'r those?" Magnus asked.

"About half the size of a common sparrow, shiny green and purple, with mouth parts like razor blades, why they're called that," Hagrid explained. "I'd wager the drop in the Acromantula population's give 'em a chance ter come back. Gonna have to do somethin' 'bout this!" He looked at Spot. Then he looked back at Rónán. "You were a _very _sick little boy, Rónán," he informed him. "These can be fatal if yeh leave it untreated, or don't know and just write it off as a tummy ache!"

Rónán paled. He'd argued just that with Madame Pomfrey – and she'd known better.

"Razier-worms?" Erik repeated.

Hagrid nodded. "They can infect any mammalian Part-Human, when yer in animal form, or any animal," Hagrid explained. "Rónán musta ate an infected animal when he were out huntin'. They carry over when yehs change back. _That_ is when they get yeh! Dogs an' such can get 'em too."

Spot whimpered.

"Thought you _had_ all your shots?" Rigel asked Rónán.

"They don't give shots fer _extinct _parasites," Hagrid nodded. "I think Teddy Lupin, the first one, was the last kid ter get _that_ shot."

"B-bears too?" Erik squeaked.

"You better go see Madame P., Erik!" Rónán gasped, grabbing his arm. "If I got bit an' infected last week, and you were already in country here, you might have 'em too, since yer a Werebear!"

"C'mon," Hagrid decided. "Fer as I know, you lot are the only Part-Humans here. Rónán, yeh probably just saved a _lot_ o'lives! We need to tell the Headmaster, so as he can tell the Ministry's department for Magical Creatures!" Then he turned to Aries, who had gone very pale. "Good thing you showed up fer class terday, colt! _Run_ an' tell yer people! I'll have Boudica start on the potion right now! I want you all up here, the whole herd, TONIGHT! Understand?" Hagrid ordered him, in a tone that invited no argument.

Rigel gasped. Aries nodded, then turned and ran, his hooves pounding on the earth. Magnus listened closely.

"You're ordering the Centaurs around?" Rigel wondered.

"Mars, his father, will understand," Hagrid explained.

Magnus watched the colt go in fascination, wishing he'd been able to talk with him more. But as he watched Aries go, he noticed the corner of the back of Hagrid's home – it was blown completely off, and the back of the house was now a large sheet of tarpaulin attached to the sagging roof. The ground was scorched as well, and a few sizable trees behind the house had been uprooted. Magnus blinked. "Ale brewing, huh?" He reminded Hagrid.

"Oh, it were terrible!" Hagrid nodded sincerely. "POOF!" He waved his hands out and up.

Magnus sniffed. "Some poof, what?"

Erik was still looking terrified, though. Rónán patted his shoulder. "It's not so bad, mate," he smiled at him, "You jus' have some _really_ bad gas the day after your treatment!"

Hagrid smiled knowingly at the two boys who should have been, according to legend, mortal enemies.

"And I thought it was my shoes," Magnus laughed.

"Yeah, we _all_ did!" Rónán sniffed at the air. "I can _still_ smell it!"

"The barn's over there!" Magnus pointed, but he did check his shoes again.

Connor Poynter looked at Erik. "A tough Durmstrang kid like you is afraid of a little blood test?"

"I…I do not …like doctors," Erik admitted. "My …upper lip? It is not so stiff as you all have."

"Dude, _no one_ says that anymore," Aaron shook his head.

"With all they have you do at Durmstrang?" Magnus wondered. Erik looked perplexed. Then Magnus noted his thick hair. He smirked at Connor. "Don't you have to swim and train naked outside, and cut your own firewood, even in winter?"

Erik's eyebrow went up and his eyes went wide. "Where did you hear _dat_?" He then laughed, "Dat is silly! My room at Durmstrang was much besser als dis tower," he glanced at Aaron and Gryffindors. "Sorry! We had beds dat were _so_ big…" he began to explain, his panic momentarily forgotten. "An hot wasser from a spring deep in the earth to heat the…hot room…with steam…"

"You had a _sauna_?" Rigel gaped at him. "_We _don't have a sauna!"

"Just off my room," Erik nodded. Connor blushed. "Not like here. We had our own bedrooms, but with bunk if you want a friend to stay. And more closet space." He thought for a bit. "And der is a big spring in der basement, you see, bubbling, and…"

"You had a _hot tub_?" Rigel exclaimed again.

"Und the pool war so hot, gr-...large, we all..."

"You had a _swimming pool_?!" They all gasped.

"Oh," Connor mumbled meekly. "Sounds nice!"

"Still think you'd look _mean_ with a shaved head, though!" Aaron encouraged Erik, patting his own shaven head.

"I have never had short haar?" Erik replied.

"What about the training?" Magnus had to ask.

Erik cocked his head. "Bears don't wear clothes?" He didn't seem to get it.

Magnus just smiled at Connor, who even smiled back and shook his head. Both of them felt a little silly for repeating (or believing) rumors.

"Lucas isn't going to like this," Rigel commented, as the Hufflepuffs went straight to the kitchens after class. After all, with more the three hundred-sixty servings to make, and extras just in case, they knew they had to get right to it.

"I love fish and chips!" Ewan exclaimed.

"But you're not a Water Sprite," Sebastian reminded him.

"Right then," Rónán said, "Since Sonny's here with me, if he promises not to use his Elf magic, he won't. Magnus, your wand!" Rónán added. Sonny promised and Magnus surrendered his wand.

They faced each other across the long worktable. Sonny drew a large spoon from the drawer. Magnus did the same.

"What is we making, sirs?" Sonny asked.

Rigel flipped the cookbook open and closed his eyes, flicking pages, then jabbed his finger at one.

"_Rocky Road Bars_! One of my favorites! The recipe calls for this stuff," Rigel read the recipe that he'd picked from Magnus' cookbook, "and we'll have to up it by a factor of 20, I think, since the book says it makes 24 bars. That will give us 480 bars. You will each do a factor of 10. The bars will be put on marked platters, and the one with the most eaten bars wins!"

"Whats is Rocky Roads bars?" Tweaky wondered. Rigel showed him the picture.

Magnus smirked. Rigel was proud of that.

"OK, get your stuff," Rigel went on. "45 ounces of unsalted butter, each. 105 ounces of Honeydukes finest dark chocolate, broken into bits. 30 tablespoons of golden syrup. 72 and a half ounces of rich tea biscuits. 35 ounces of mini marshmallows, and 20 teaspoons of icing sugar for dusting."

"Why's it all in ounces and not cups?" Ewan asked.

"Because I'm rubbish at maths," Rigel explained. "Multiplying by 10 is easy." He handed the recipe to Rónán.

"Heat the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over gentle heat. Remove from the heat, scoop out about half of the melted mixture and set aside in a bowl."

They did that, glancing up at one another now and then. It took a bit for the stuff to melt, but Sonny and Magnus were too intently stirring to notice.

"Crush your biscuits in a bag, mostly crumbs, but leave some chunks!"

Sonny used a rolling pin, while Magnus pummeled his into bits with his fists.

By this time, the melted mixture was ready and removed from heat and separated.

"Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, then add the marshmallows," Ewan read over his shoulder, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth! "Nuts are optional."

"Plenty of them here," Tweaky mumbled.

Magnus added nuts. Sonny did not.

"Tip the mixture into a 9 inch square baking tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Tweaky, you can transfigure something else into pans, as we don't have that many," Rigel said.

"Pour over the reserved half of the melted chocolate mixture and smooth the top with a wet spatula again and dust with powdered sugar," Sebastian read. "Uh oh, we have to chill it overnight?"

"Gentlemen," Rigel decided, "Use your magic. We don't have all night. 24 hour Chill Charms, please. Good luck! 1-2-3, now!"

Sonny snapped his fingers. Magnus passed his hand slowly over his pans, staring intently at the contents. Sonny's potential bars solidified and cracked. Magnus' potential bars smoothed out with a bit of puff of steam, condensation forming on the outside of the pans. They sliced them with butter knives.

By this time, all the other Elves were helping Sonny move his bars aside as the boys helped Magnus. They then began preparing to send the fish and chips up. The boys went to clean up for dinner, but Rónán lagged behind.

"No cheating, Sonny!" Rónán smiled at him. Then he looked wistfully at all the Rocky Road Bars. "I can't eat that," he sighed. "Why'd he pick chocolate?"

"Sonny plays fair," the old Elf nodded. "Would little Master like it if Sonny makes him one of those orange cakeses he likes, like when he been little?"

Rónán's eyes lit up. "Yeah, but don't tell Mag, OK?"

Sonny snorted.

With the exception of the cracks in the icing, the Rocky Road Bars all looked similar. When they appeared on the tables, they were certainly something different. The boys knew Magnus' work on sight, and the smoother bars disappeared first. It looked like the Slytherin Firsties got a plate of Sonny's cracked bars. Adams only ate half of one. Lucas, who was already disgusted by the meal of fish, seemed to find his satisfactory. Then again, all he'd had to eat was salad, a plate of chips and some bread. Connor nibbled at his, but then declared that he didn't like marshmallows.

There was some platter swapping at the Staff table, though, as Headmaster Weasley made short work of three of Magnus' bars.

In the end, it was no contest.

When they met up in the kitchen to do dishes, there were no smooth bars on any of the platters marked with a small "M" on the bottom.

Sonny sniffled and blew his nose loudly as they all tallied up the results. He slumped on a stool at the worktable in defeat. Then he began to sob. The other Elves just watched nervously, busying themselves with this and that.

"Can I have my orange cake now?" Rónán asked him. Sonny wailed and flung himself on the boy, sobbing on his shoulder as Magnus watched in shock.

"Not the result you expected, Mag?" Rigel wondered.

Magnus looked away as Sonny composed himself and brought his boy the little cake.

"Oh, bollocks, Rónán! I'm sorry! I didn't think!" Rigel apologized, his face going pink.

Sonny just sat next to his boy, watching him in adoration as Rónán ate his cake.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Rigel whispered to Magnus, "Sonny took the bet, he lost. Like I said, they never refuse a challenge. They like it! They just get a bit…emotional when they lose."

Magnus couldn't help it, though. "Sonny, I'm sorry!" He blurted. "I didn't mean to upset you!"

Several of the Elves gasped and fainted.

"Sonny is used to courtesies," he nodded, "But you's doesn't has to apologize to us. You wins fair and square!"

Rigel blinked.

"But I'm still sorry," Magnus shook his hand. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I shouldn't have bullied you lot about it," he confessed.

*  
Later that night, as the boys prepared for Astronomy class, Magnus realized something as he was looking over his notes about the Asteroid Belt. Professor Stratton had given them the assignment of deciding whether or not the Belt had been formed by the breakup of a planet long ago, or if the Belt had been formed from matter that hadn't been lucky enough to form a real planet.

"Luck!" Magnus gasped.

Rigel had wished them luck when making the Rocky Road Bars.

"Argh!" He grumbled, closing his textbook. He'd had just about all of Jupiter and its insane gravity that he could stomach for one night. That, and he was low on biscuits again. He'd have to make some more, he wondered, but there was also something else niggling at the back of his mind.

"_Erm, no," Hagrid decided. "Since yeh'all have got a Part-Human."_

"So who is it?" Magnus said to himself.

"Pardon?" Rónán spoke up. "Sorry, wolf ears?"

"Something Hagrid said," Magnus replied, "He didn't give you points for being a werewolf, because he said we all had a Part-Human."

Rigel spilled his ink and coughed. "What?!"

"Well, we've got Rónán and Sebastian, and I suppose, me," Magnus theorized. "Gryffindor has Erik, and Slytherin has Lucas," he went on, not wanting to confront his friend that way. "So, who's the Ravenclaw Part-Human?"

"Can't be Helene," Rigel snorted. "Although I'd swear she's part Troll, sometimes."

"Well, I could find out," Magnus wheedled, "But it's rather rude."

"Tacky, very tacky to just ask," Rigel agreed.

"No, Professor Potter taught me a Charm," Magnus retorted, "But it can't see Part-Humans. Only human-Humans."

"Is that a word?" Ewan asked, smiling.

"You'd go around firing Revelio Charms at other kids?" Rigel gasped, his eyebrows going up. "How very Slytherin of you! I like it!"

"You don't need a Charm," Rónán cut in, "I knew Lucas was an Elf, and that Erik was a bear, first time I smelled 'em." He pointed at his nose. "You need to learn to use yours, too, Mag," he added.

"I don't want to go there," Magnus waved it off. "If they wanted me to be a wolf, Mr. Lupin wouldn't have cured me."

"Some cure," Rigel laughed. "Did he teach you any Shaving Charms yet?"

Magnus took a bit of offense at that, but he let it slide. True, he didn't want to be werewolf. Or a Proto-wolf. Whatever…

But he also considered how someone else might feel if he were a Part-Human and didn't want to be.

Rigel checked his watch. "C'mon, we don't want to be late, and it's a long climb."

"Professor Stratton's gonna love my essay," Ewan held it up proudly. "I think the Asteroid Belt was formed when one of Nibiru's moons crashed into Tiamat!"

"Good luck with_ that _crazy theory," Rigel sniffed. "It was supposed to show up in 2012 and never came."

"But getting back to the other Part-Human?" Sebastian asked, having just rolled up his parchment. "Nothing like waiting until the last minute, heh?"

"Eh, I already know who it is, no big deal," Rónán waved him off. "He'll tell us when he's ready."

"Who is it?" Rigel gasped.

"Well, who didn't run away when I pulled out my jar of worms?" Rónán replied.

They all stared at him.

"Whoa!" They all breathed.

"But he looks so Human!" Ewan gasped, amazingly having gotten it right off. "What the heck _is _he, then?"

They all looked at him.

"Well, no offense, but I mean, it kinda sticks out sometimes – like a tail or your ears, or your hair, and…?" Ewan offered.

"C'mon, we're late," Rigel interrupted him.


	9. Chapter 9-Having Your Cake

9-Having Your Cake  
*

**A/N**: cooking with alcohol warning, for the easily offended! Magnus seems to have problems finding a supplier. I'm not sure on the species of pear tree.

Just after lunch on Saturday, older students were scampering back and forth from the Great Hall to the front doors, to their dormitories and back, in preparation for their first Hogsmeade Village visit of the year. Disappointed students in both First and Second Year were busy presenting their older siblings, cousins, and friends with money and shopping lists for them, and it was evident in more than a few bouts of haggling that some profiteering was taking place.

Two Fourth Year Gryffindors, however, were making their way through the kitchen where bustling Elves were cleaning up the remnants of lunch.

"What do _you_ two want?" Marjorie MacMillan, Prefect of Hufflepuff House, demanded as she opened the door to the Cellar.

"Clientele," Fabian and Gideon Weasley said in unison. "It's our mission to bring…" – "…joy and culinary delights…" – "…not to mention our WWW products…" – "…to the poor and underprivileged…" – "…of your most humble House!"

"Under_age_, you mean? Do you two honestly think I'm about to let you exploit my students?" She demanded.

"You can't exploit the _willing_," The portrait of Cedric Diggory laughed at her.

Her answer came in the form of a flock of First and Second Years, and a few older children without permission forms, all of them waving shopping lists and small purses of coins. Miss MacMillan sighed in defeat, but she did manage to cut into the Twins' entrepreneurship by offering to pick up some of the Honeydukes orders herself.

"Cutting into our margins?" Fabian demanded, "And I thought you loved me!"

"No, you silly git, it's _me_ she loves, Fabe," Gideon countered.

"You're mad, Giddy," Fabian told his twin.

"But I'm better looking!" Gideon replied.

"You're _identical_!" Marjorie snapped at them. "And I don't want _either _one of you!"

"Older women…" – "…they're hard to get!" The Twins decided.

"But we're on a tight schedule, Miss," Gideon added.

"Love what you've done with the place," Fabian observed.

"Reminds me of Great-grandfather's wine cellar," Gideon pointed out.

"Which way to your zoo?" Fabian asked.

"Zoo? Oh! Right – the First Years?" Marjorie nodded. She turned and shouted, "BOYS!"

None of the other male students in the Cellar responded, but Magnus and his friends appeared moments later. When their haggling was done, the Twins looked a bit perplexed, and Magnus followed them back out into the kitchen. Then he presented them with a list.

Fabian's eyebrow went up. Gideon leaned over for a look.

"What do you need…" – "…with so much dark chocolate?"

"It's not _just_ chocolate, it's _**Honeydukes Best Darke**_, the Swiss import, moderately sweet," Magnus jabbed a finger at the list. "You can see, I need _that _in bars, and the baking variety in the tin of pre-shredded. Don't mix it up, I can't use the sweet for baking, and the unsweetened bars won't work at all."

"I think we need to call Mum on this one, Giddy," Fabian looked perplexed.

"Uh oh," Gideon pointed out. "Mag, they don't sell alcohol to students."

"It's for _baking_!" Magnus protested. "And _why _not? I don't need _that _much!"

"It's the law," The Twins replied. "You'll have to find…" – "…another source!"

Magnus huffed.

"Ah, the matter of money?" Gideon asked.

"C.O.D," Magnus replied.

"WHAT?!" They gasped.

"Rigel warned me already, and I know you can afford it, what with a 30% markup you just stuck Ewan and them with?" Magnus grinned. "Or I can just Owl Post it, if you don't have the time?" He thought for a moment. "I can certainly make it worth your while."

They both looked closely at the "H" and badger emblem of the Firstie's favorite hoodie. "You sure you're not…" – "…a Slytherin?" They asked.

"No, I'm the one what bakes the biscuits you scoff on!" Magnus smiled, with a smirk that would have made Rigel or any of his predecessors all the way back to Draco proud.

"There's enough sugar on this list to drop an elephant!" Fabian pointed out, as the Twins left in defeat, although they would deny it for the rest of their school careers.

"What do you suppose he needs dark chocolate mixed with alcohol for?" Gideon wondered.

Fabian snapped his fingers. "The kid bakes things. Remember Auntie's cake? The one what got ickle Billy smashed last Christmas?"

"That was a Flaming Firewhiskey Fruitcake," Gideon shook his head and grimaced. "And all he wants is a small bag of oranges and a few lemons, far as fruit goes. There's no chocolate in that one. Can't be a fruitcake."

"Don't know when he'd have the time to make it, though," Fabian mused, "Rigel said Mag's had his nose in a book all week long."

"Well, so does Helene, and all our other Weasley/Malfoy cousins," Gideon reminded him.

The Twins thought about it as they presented their permission forms to Caretaker Smith, who eyed them suspiciously. When he finally decided that they were genuine, he let them go.

"You'd think…" – "…he doesn't trust us!" The Twins declared to no one in particular.

The clerks of Honeydukes were overjoyed to see the Twins' orders, and began filling them at once. "Sometimes you just _have_ to love Muggles," one clerk pointed out, stapling students' lists to many small bags. "I just love this thing!"

"So what are you boys trying to do, trap a Leprechaun?" another clerk, a young lady asked, as she packaged up the sweetened bars and unsweetened baking chocolate. The Twins, of course, had already confused the two chocolates, as well as any other forms of it. Fortunately for them, she seemed to know how to cook and recognized a few things on their list.

The Twins froze in mid-scoop into the _**Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans**_ bin, where they were buying them by the pound.

"WHAT?!" The gasped.

"All this chocolate? Swiss dark, and mildly sweet? And oranges?" She tsk-tsk'd a few times. "So where'd you get the Guinness? I see you've crossed it off?"

"We _didn't,_" they assured her. "So what does one make…" – "…out of oranges, chocolate, and Guinness?"

"A Chocolate Orange Guinness cake, or a Carrageen Citrus pudding with just the fruit and not ale," the clerk informed them.

"Why didn't we think of that?" The Twins wondered together, feeling foolish. Then they looked at one another. "What was it you said…" – "…about trapping a Leprechaun?" They asked.

"That's really annoying, boys," the clerk smiled at them. "But sort of cute!"

"She thinks I'm cute!" Fabian told his twin.

"She was talking to _me_!" Gideon corrected him.

"As I was saying," The clerk cleared her throat, "Leprechauns have a passion for things like this. They love chocolate, the darker, the better. Citrus fruits, too, but they also like their drink," she lowered her voice. "That's why a C-O-G cake is the perfect trap for one! He won't be able to resist it, and he – or she – will certainly come after it. Rumor is, it tends to make them very tractable and cooperative."

"You don't _say_?" The Twins breathed.

"Now, as for the seaweed and oranges, you'll have to hit Grimalkin's Grocery for those. This is a sweets shoppe, after all," she told them. "The chocolate will be ten Galleons, please."

"Merlin's pants!" Gideon swore.

"He's definitely going to have to compensate us for that!" Fabian declared, counting out the money.

"Just be glad your clients didn't want any of those Muggle breath mints, we've sold out already," the clerk added.

Grimalkin's, however, was out of seaweed and suggested that the Twins go and jump in the Black Lake. Literally, and just add salt to their harvest. They did, however, have imported USA Florida oranges and lemons. They were even Charmed to perfect ripeness – for another five Galleons.

"I'm thinking of stewed badgers for dinner," Fabian snarled.

"Who in blazes eats _seaweed_?" Gideon wondered. "Other than the _**Asian Academy **_kids in Tokyo?"

"Probably the same nutter what eats those tiny little canned fishes in mustard sauce that come from the Muggle grocery," the clerk replied. "Sold out of them first thing, and all the canned smelt and anchovies, too."

"Oh, _stop_!" Fabian grimaced.

"Who bought _that_?" Gideon had to ask.

"Ravenclaw Prefect," the clerk shrugged. "Swore it weren't for him, though. I'd not admit it, either, were it me! Nasty little foul smelling cans of dead fish…," he began to look a bit green. "Some blokes'll eat anythin'!"

"Have you got _all_ this stuff?" The Twins then asked, wanting to get it over with.

"Making an Orange Carrageen, are we?" The clerk asked, looking over their list.

"Apparently _someone_ is," Gideon replied, with a smirk, as they realized that they were going to have to make two trips. The Expansion Charms on their rucksacks had had just about all they could handle.

"Sorry about the alcohol, boys, but you know the rules. Not even one bottle. Why don't you ask Hagrid, if you're going to cook with it? His dark ale is comparable to Guinness," he suggested. "Or you could build your own microbrewery?"

"Hagrid's already blown his up," they replied.

"Then why was he here this morning with a delivery?" The clerk wondered, pointing out a shelf behind the counter full of bottles labeled with a picture of his dog, Spot: _**Giant Spot's Dark Ale**_.

"This is turning out to be a very strange _and_ unprofitable morning, Giddy," Fabian told his twin, as they headed back to the school to unload for their second trip.

"Agreed, Fabe," Gideon replied, "That can of golden syrup with the dead lion on the label is giving me the creeps!"

"But if Hagrid didn't blow up his beer vat, what _did_ he blow up?" Fabian wondered, as they followed the lane along the Black Lake towards the Castle.

Then Gideon stopped, pointing. "Is that a … seal?" He wondered. "That creature cavorting about over there with the plesiosaur?"

"Fish and seaweed sold out?" Fabian wondered.

"By the Ravenclaw prefect?" Gideon nodded. Then he stopped and tugged on his twin's arm. Down the bank was a pile of child-sized blue clothing and a small pair of boots.

"Do you think we've got a sel-…?" They asked one another.

"Well, if he _is_, who'd ever notice?" Gideon mused.

"I don't even _want_ to know, none of my business," Fabian decided. "Come along, Giddy. The Hufflepuffs are waiting!"

"Are we going to deliver those Dungbombs to that Slytherin kid?" Gideon wondered.

"He _paid_ for them, and handsomely, too," Fabian smiled.

"Well we'll have to make sure and slip them in through the kitchen's large deliveries door," Gideon reminded him. "You know how Smith is!"

Magnus was still pondering his alcohol problem as he wandered the grounds. After all, it wasn't like he intended to throw a drunken party with several cases of the stuff. He only needed one small bottle of Guinness, and perhaps no more than a cup of the really hard stuff. How was he supposed to flambé anything without high-proof alcohol? And besides, any dessert was better if you could sprinkle a bit on it a few hours before serving. Where was the fun in something like a Chocolate Charlotte if it didn't have a bit of a nip to it? How would he ever make fruitcake at Christmas?

Despite it being a Hogsmeade weekend, as the upperclassmen called it, there was still plenty of activity at the Quidditch Pitch. Magnus tried watching it for a bit with Daniel and Liam, but found that it made him dizzy and nauseous, watching all those flying brooms. There were also students scattered about the Black Lake, enjoying the sun, doing homework or reading, and even a few fishermen. There were even some (Muggleborn or Halfblood, Magnus guessed) students involved in a game of football [soccer] and a few rowdier upperclassmen at a game of Rugby.

Normally, he would have spent the day with his friends. However, Sebastian had therapy with Hagrid and really didn't want anyone else to watch. Rigel had been summoned to a meeting with his father. Rónán had been sent home to _**The White Wolf Prep School **_with several documents for his father and Teddy Lupin about the Razorflies, and also to give their own physician from St. Mungo's a chance to look him over to confirm it. Ewan was busy with Aaron and Erik again, seemingly determined to master a real broomstick. As for the rest of them, Magnus had no idea where they were. Lucas, he assumed, was probably swimming in the freezing lake.

"Well, not like they abandoned me," He told himself, realizing that they all had things to do. Then he thought of Hagrid as he passed by a group of older students that he didn't know. They were discussing a more advanced CoMC class, and one of them was beating his book with a large stick as it scampered over the grass! "Hagrid!" He realized, thinking that he could borrow a bit of ale from him if he explained what it was for.

He was distracted, however, when he ran right into a Flemish Beauty pear tree that was beginning to drop fruit. Visions of what he could do with the seemingly neglected harvest began to run through his mind, and he raced back to the Cellar to get a basket.

"All right there, Mag?" The Twins greeted him, wondering at the sight of the boy about to fall over backwards from the pack he was lugging, in addition to his baskets. There had been a lot of pears, and Magnus Gove VI wasn't one to waste.

"Erm, what are you smuggling in, kid?" Fabian asked.

"Pears!" Magnus puffed, holding one out for them to see. The Twins looked disappointed.

"He's not found Hagrid's orchard," Fabian then grinned.

"Orchard?!" Magnus gasped.

"For a price, we could show you," Fabian added.

"Actually, we had _gold_ in mind," Gideon reminded him, holding up two large shopping bags.

"A great _deal_ of gold," Fabian added.

"All right, all _right_," Magnus snorted, "C'mon, then!"

Magnus paid them off back in his dorm room, and gave them an extra five Galleons. The Twins were not impressed. "I'll cut you in on what I make out of those pears," he promised them. "Something new and experimental!"

"In _our_ line of work…" – "…that's not promising!" The Twins stated.

"Or I could tell Professor Potter about how you aided and abetted corrupting the morals of an innocent Firstie!" Magnus added with a smirk.

"**Innocent **Firstie? Where _is_ he?" Fabian looked around.

"Fabe, I do believe we've been had," Gideon sighed.

"He rightly set us up, didn't he, Giddy?" Fabian agreed.

"Thinks he can play with the big boys!" Gideon grinned at him.

"Oh bless him!" They agreed.

"Fine then, I'll let you eat cake. _House Elf cake_," Magnus shrugged.

"They chopped off Marie Antoinette's head for that statement!" Gideon informed him.

"_You_, my boy, _should_ have been in Slytherin!" They both exclaimed, as they took their tip, left the load of groceries, and fled the kitchen to deliver to their more profitable customers.

Sonny was looking critical as he came in from a side door that Magnus hadn't noticed before. He had several bags and boxes floating along behind him.

"Wha's that door?" Magnus asked in surprise.

"Loading dock," Sonny shrugged. "No steps, just slide the big stuffs in." As if to prove his point, a large crate slid in behind him. Then he saw Magnus' haul. "What's you making now?"

"A surprise, but I'll leave the chocolate out in one for Rónán!" He promised. "You can have some, too!"

"Oh! These is been very expensives!" Sonny gasped, examining the oranges.

"Tell me about it," Magnus sighed, having blown his spending money for the whole month and then some. "Wish I could grow oranges here."

"You cans, in the greenhouseses," Sonny informed him. "You didn't asks Perfwisser Pamoney?"

"_Now_ you tell me!" Magnus sighed.

They then heard disembodied laughter, and both of them jumped. Harry Potter appeared out of nowhere near the icebox. "Sonny, I need a word with Magnus, alone," he suggested, "If you don't mind?"

Sonny bowed slightly and Disapparated to somewhere.

"So, Magnus, have you thought about my offer?" Harry asked. "Or were you too busy picking pears?"

"I…I've been distracted, sir," Magnus answered. "Honestly!"

"You've been doing some light reading?" Harry asked, nodding. "Yes, Madame Hicks told me. But brewing beer?"

"I need a bit of Guinness, sir," Magnus answered, "for _cooking_! And there's something odd about Hagrid."

Harry laughed. "You're not the _first_ person to notice that!"

"No, I mean with the explosion Friday before last! The one what tore up the back of his house?"

"Go on?" Harry seemed interested.

"A vat of ale blowing under pressure can't do that kind of damage, it wasn't a big enough vat, I don't think?" Magnus theorized.

"How do you know?"

"I asked around, sir," Magnus nodded.

"You sneaked that book, didn't you?" Harry smiled.

Magnus nodded. "Well, Madame Hicks was really happy with the Spotted Dick, and I promised her more custard, sir. Thing is, I don't have _time_ to brew my own alcohol."

Harry looked around with a conspiratorial glare. "You know how to do that?" Magnus nodded. "I'll get you a bottle – just one or two – for whatever you're cooking, Magnus. But I want a piece!"

Magnus nodded happily. Maybe he _could_ build a distillery?

"So what's this about being a Secret Kee-…" he began to ask, but Harry shushed him. He cast Charms over the kitchen for privacy, then scanned it from ceiling to floor. He put down the wand, and his appearance changed.

"The Fidelius Charm is a complex one, Magnus," Henry explained. "It seals the secret, literally, inside of _you_. The secret becomes a part of your being. You can divulge it at will, but those you tell it to can't use it unless they really need to. That's why the House Elves don't really realize who I am even though a few know. They are Secondary Keepers. However, in our case, anyone you tell would know that I'm not really THE Harry Potter if they sat down and really thought about it," Henry went on. "But as I said before, you're a very good choice."

"And I owe you lot one, sir, for saving my life," Magnus nodded. "Does it hurt?" He added timidly.

"No," Henry assured him, giving his other wand a shake. "Did you catch all that, old man?" He asked it.

"I did," Old Harry Potter's voice crackled from the wand. "I still think you're barking mad, boy, but…like you said, who'd _believe_ him?"

"Shall we, then?" Henry asked.

"Let's," Harry agreed, "But wait for me. Is your 'keyhole' still there in the Wards near the loading dock?"

"It is," Henry replied. "Merlin's socks, you're actually coming out of that cave?"

There was a burst of cyan [vivid sky blue] light as a Portkey vortex then delivered the real Harry Potter. He looked around the kitchen, leaning heavily on a cane. He seemed melancholy, then huffed loudly.

"You've secured the room?" Harry demanded.

"Nice to see you, too, Harry," Henry grinned.

Harry made an indelicate sound. "Give me your wand, the _big _one," he clarified. Henry handed him the wand with odd little bulges along the shaft. For just an instant, Magnus saw old Harry standing straight, his black hair thick and messy, and his green eyes sparkling as he gave it a wave. His face was that of a teenaged boy, and his smile was warming.

Then the illusion vanished.

"What was that?" Magnus gasped.

"What was _what_?" Harry asked. "Put him up on the worktable," Harry suggested, "My back isn't what it used to be."

"Neither are your heart, your knees, your hips…"

"Oh, shut up!" Harry snapped at him, as Henry laughed and lifted Magnus up onto the table. "Don't move a muscle, kid," he warned him.

"Except to hold up your own wand," Henry added.

Magnus gulped and nodded, pulling out his wand.

"Elder, holly, and cedar. What a combo," Harry shook his head.

The two wizards held their wands high. Once again, Henry's appearance shifted subtly into that of his mentor, somewhat like the vision that Magnus had seen. Strands of multi-colored light began to issue forth from the wands, even Magnus' wand, intertwining in the air and forming a web around the startled boy. Magnus felt as if his hair were standing on end.

"Project **Potter Beyond** was a success," Harry Potter said.

"The world believes _me_ to be Harry Potter," Henry Griffiths added.

"Magnus Scot Gove VI," Harry looked right at him, his eyes piercing, "Do you solemnly swear to guard this secret?"

"Magnus Scot Gove VI," Henry repeated, "Do you solemnly swear to tell no one, until such time that you see fit to embody the _Secret _within the Soul of another to guard it?"

"Yes," Magnus replied.

The web of light tightened around the boy, and Magnus felt as if ants were crawling all over him. It penetrated his clothes, and the boy's vision clouded over with swirls of colors. In a flash, he saw three people standing around a small table: a middle aged woman with bushy hair, a ginger man, and a man with white hair and a pointed face that somewhat reminded him of Rigel. A very large and old black man was then talking to them, but Magnus couldn't hear what he was saying as he formed up out of the mists. Then there was an old lady there, too – a Mediwitch. On the table was a small bottle with some sort of potion in it. It seemed they were all arguing.

The scene changed.

A man with black hair was standing by a lady with red hair and green eyes. She was wearing a white wedding dress.

The scene dissolved, and suddenly, a baby was crying. Then the baby was a toddler, happily watching his stuffed toy Hippogriff flying around on its own.

But the toddler was now a young boy with dark hair and green eyes, trying on the Sorting Hat. "**SLYTHERIN**!" It shouted.

The boy in Slytherin robes was then standing in a cemetery, crying, leaning heavily on Harry and Ginny Potter. Harry's hair was now shot with gray, and his face lined beneath a creased brow.

Then Magnus saw a cottage in a village somewhere, and the front door was blown off. A young man was shouting at a very old lady who was serving tea.

A teacup fell to the floor and shattered soundlessly.

"The thought of a world without Harry Potter was unacceptable," the old lady then said, as if speaking to Magnus. "So we made a _new_ one!"

A man turned to face him – Harry Potter.

But it wasn't Harry Potter, not really.

"FIDELIUS!" Henry and Harry both shouted, and Magnus felt as if he were being squeezed into a very tight space. The world was closing in on him, and then his vision exploded into a burst of bright light. He fell over backwards on the worktable, panting and unable to move.

Tiny sparks of multi-colored light were crackling about the tip of his wand.

When he came to his senses again, he saw old Harry sitting on a stool. He was sweating and clutching his chest, breathing hard, as Henry tipped a potion into his mouth. In an instant, the old man seemed to pull himself together again.

"That wand is going to kill you someday!" Henry warned him.

"Don't be daft; I've _been_ dead before! Check the boy," Harry said to Henry.

Henry scanned Magnus from head to toe, but his hand was shaking.

"Wh-what did you see?" Henry asked him, sounding tired, and Magnus told him.

"Looks like it worked," old Harry grunted.

"It's just like a superhero with a secret identity!" Magnus smiled. "Like Bruce Wayne and Batman!" The boy exclaimed, "You see, he's…"

"I _know_ who Batman is," Harry cut him off. "Henry and I used to collect Muggle comics."

"Oh!"

"Drop the Wards, I'll be going now," old Harry then said, pulling a small toy dragon from his pocket. It was a Hungarian Horntail. Henry lowered the Wards.

Just as Henry flicked his wand, and his appearance shifted again, the loading dock door flew open as someone yelled, "It's stuck! HEAVE!" Fabian and Gideon Weasley came tumbling in to land in a heap at Henry's feet. "Uncle!" They gasped, recognizing him as Harry Potter. "Oh, hello, sir!" They greeted old Harry, obviously having no idea who he was.

Old Harry actually smiled at them. "Boys," he greeted them. "I see some things never change?" The Twins regarded him carefully. "Thomas, Ministry Board of Health," he introduced himself. "Mister Potter," he then turned to Henry, "I see the kitchens aren't in violation of any codes. I'll be going now."

"Very good, sir," Henry (as Harry) nodded. "Give my regards to the Minister of Magic, sir."

Then old Harry vanished into the little dragon-Portkey's wake.

"Bit old to be working so hard?" Fabian observed.

"Poor old fellow," Gideon agreed, with clearly no idea who they'd just seen.

"Carry on, boys," 'Harry' told them with a wink.

"With what?" The Twins asked innocently.

"That was wicked!" Magnus breathed, settling in to checking his delivery. He was disappointed that there was no seaweed, and harvesting it in the lake was definitely not a choice for him.

"So when are you making this special cake?" Fabian asked.

"Because we expect to be compensated," Gideon reminded him.

"Cake?" Professor Potter wondered, looking at the things Magnus was unloading. "A cake with chocolate and oranges?"

"Erm," Magnus fudged a bit, knowing full well that a DADA professor would probably know what he was up to.

"_That's _why you need a bottle of Guinness!" Professor Potter nodded. He looked hard at Magnus. "_You're_ playing with fire," he warned the boy.

"Trapping a Leprechaun…" – "…usually is!" The Twins agreed.

Their professor spun around to face them, making them jump. "**What do you know**?" He demanded.

"Just that the clerk at Honeydukes…" – "…and the clerk at the grocery…" – "…recognized the ingredients!" The Twins offered.

"Seaweed bits? Irish desserts?" Harry wondered.

"It's for a Carra-" Magnus began.

"I _know_ what a Carrageen is," Harry interrupted him. "_And _I know what C-O-G cakes are! I _am _the DADA professor after all." He glared at the lot of them.

"Don't look at us…" – "…we're only the delivery boys!" The Twins protested.

"And you bought it for _him_?" Harry insisted.

"But sir, it was just food, and Leprechauns aren't Dark Creatures?" The Twins asked.

"No, but all they have to do is _say_ the word "luck" and all hell can break loose," Harry reminded them. "You two should have known better! They're dangerous and unpredictable, and _**I **_personally don't want one of them around here!"

Magnus gasped. Surely his professor _had_ to know? With all the clues he'd pointed out? And the fact that Rigel was related to the Potters, if not really related to Henry?

'Harry' then glared at Magnus. "I want to _know_ when you make this cake, boy," he told him sternly. "As soon as it comes out of the oven."

"Good thing you didn't want sardines," Gideon commented.

"Or mints. Sold out," Fabian agreed, as Magnus examined the can of Golden Syrup.

"Who in their right mind eats _those _nasty fishy things?" Harry wondered. "What a beastly label!" He gapsed at the can.

"Some kid in Ravenclaw,…" – "…Second or Firstie," The Twins replied. They then excused themselves for another Hogsmeade run.

Magnus really thought he should tell the professor about his third mystery, which now appeared to be a Ravenclaw Part-Human that liked fish. But he didn't. He made a mental note to hit the library again.

"Sir?" Magnus asked, as Harry was turning to go, "If it's _that_ dangerous, why are you letting me keep the ingredients for the cake?"

Harry thought about it for a bit, and Magnus was beginning to think he wasn't going to say. Then he went to the icebox, poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice, and took a long drink. He got himself a leftover Rocky Road bar, which had gone quite hard. He softened it with a Charm.

"I didn't want to think about it," Harry finally said, "To think that my own foster brother, I mean, when I was really Henry, could do something so stupid as to marry a Leprechaun, or at least a Part-Leprechaun." He shook his head. "I just didn't want to face it, or all the potential problems it could cause."

"Foster brother, sir?" Magnus asked.

"Orion, your teacher, and I grew up together with the Potters," Henry explained.

Magnus decided to say it again. "Mrs. Malfoy is Irish, and she's very upset with Rigel being in Hufflepuff," he reminded his professor. "What with the Howler, sir?"

"There was always something about Niamh MacPherson that I didn't like," Harry admitted. "I just couldn't put my finger on it. Leprechauns are masters of trickery, you know. Perhaps, _if _she _is_, she's fooled even _me_. And old Harry. Rule number four of investigation, Magnus – go with your gut feelings."

Magnus nodded. At least, he knew that much about Leprechauns from the popular legends and the first few chapters of his borrowed library book. But who was this 'foster brother'?* Then it clicked, as the boy hadn't really been listening.

"Professor _Malfoy_ is _your _foster brother, sir?" Magnus asked.

Harry nodded. "I thought I said that? There were some family problems, and he spent a few years with us, right after old Harry and Ginny took me in," he explained. "We went to school together, were best mates, even though he was in Gryffindor and I was in Slytherin, and we even became Aurors together." He sighed. "I should have known it right off when Rigel's hair and eyes changed, but I just didn't see it, until _you _began suspecting it," He sighed. "Magnus," he went on, his eyes widening. "Of course! They've got a Secret Keeper, but somehow, you've blown it for them!"

"But you just said you didn't _know_ if he was or not?" Magnus wondered.

"Good point. I have to say, it bothers me that you're making this 'bait' to try and trick Rigel's secret out of him, though." He gave the boy a hard look. "_If_ that's what you're trying to do?"

Magnus' jaw dropped. "_No_, sir!" Magnus gasped, "I'd never do something like that! I just thought…thought it would be something he'd like! And…and I thought it might be nice, since me inviting Connor to scoff hurt his feelings! Honestly!"

"Honestly, Watson?" Harry prompted him. "So you didn't read about the cake in **Leapin' Leprechauns**?"

Magnus hung his head. "I did, but thought he'd _like_ it," the boy insisted.

"This isn't funny, Gove," Harry used his surname, and poured himself another drink. "Mystery or not, there's one more very important thing you need to know. If Rigel Malfoy _is_, in fact, Part-Leprechaun, and _that_ secret gets out – or if he uses his latent Leprechaun magic _here_ – it will be very bad for your friend. You said you've already hurt him once, even though inadvertently with the whole Poynter thing?"

Magnus nodded without looking up.

"B-but…but Connor…-"

"You did a _good_ thing for Poynter, kid," Harry conceded. "You couldn't have known how your friend truly felt about him. I can understand trying to win over your enemies, believe me." Harry sighed hard, again. He pulled up a stool and sat down, palming his face – with both hands. "I had foster cousins who hated me."

"Sir, _what's_ very bad, if Rigel is one?" Magnus wondered, "I mean, people still like Sebastian and Erik? And Lucas and Rónán?"

"About a hundred fifty years ago, or so, and even before that, about two hundred, I guess," Harry explained, "Hogwarts had some problems with Part-Humans. Rubeus Hagrid, our own Hagrid's grandfather, was accused of facilitating manslaughter for keeping a young Acromantula in the Castle. It allegedly killed a girl. He wasn't cleared until fifty years later. There were other minor problems over the years, then a little sickly boy named Remus Lupin came here. He was a werewolf, the first one that Hogwarts ever accepted. He nearly killed Severus Snape when they were Sixth Years, I think it was. Of course, werewolves weren't sane back then. They were dangerous beasts one night of the year, and just very cranky for about four others. When he grew up, he got a job as a teacher, but popular opinion forced him to resign when word of his condition got out. Since then, there's been quite a stigma attached to the whole Part-Human thing. They have to be registered, due to their special abilities and needs. In fact, Teddy Lupin had a lot of problems when he was exposed, and he was just a Firstie."

"But they'll just register Rigel, right?" Magnus gasped. "He doesn't have to _tell _anyone! I mean, there's another one, too, Rónán knows!" He blurted it out, the clapped his hands over his mouth.

Harry's head shot up in surprise. "**Who**?"

"He didn't say. Rónán says _he'll_ tell us if he wants to. But I _can_ guess," Magnus added.

Harry swore. Loudly. In fact, he frightened a few Hufflepuffs on their way back to the Cellar so badly that they fled in the other direction! He raised the Wards again. "Rule number five, don't drop your guard!" He berated himself. "Who _is_ it, Magnus?!"

"Garrett Alcott!" Magnus cut in, trying to calm the professor down.

"The Ravenclaw boy?" Harry's eyebrows went up. He snapped his fingers. "Sardines! Bought out by his Prefect! That explains a lot, and the mints being sold out! _Damn_," he went on, "Don't these kids and their folks understand what kind of trouble they can get in for trying to hide it?"

"Well if they _want_ to hide it, then apparently something's wrong _here_," Magnus countered. "It's not fair. With that kind of attitude, I don't wonder that Connor didn't tell Madame Pomfrey or his friends that he was deaf. From what I've seen, _you _lot don't like Muggleborns, Part-Humans, and even Non-Humans."

"'my lot'?" Harry wondered.

"What was that word Adams always says? For old families? Pure-what?"

"Purebloods," Harry snorted.

"_That's it_!"

"No, it's _not_ fair, Magnus, but it's for everyone's safety," Harry explained. "Some of these hybrids are dangerous. And Connor's case is different. He's simply disabled, and no one faults him for that."

"'**Them**'?" Magnus repeated the word, "Is Aries dangerous, too, then?" Magnus asked. "Did you know he comes to our CoMC classes? He's really polite, and not at all as bad as what everyone makes his lot out to be."

Harry blinked.

"Guess not?" Magnus smirked. Harry caught it. "So you're telling me it's 'us' and 'them' – _you're_ Human, so that's all _good_, while _we're_ not, so we have to be _watched_?" He thought for a bit as he got himself a drink of cold water, wondering at the admission he'd just made about himself. _I'm not quite human anymore, either_.

The glass he was holding froze solid and burst in his hand.

"And just so you know, _yes,_ I wanted to know if Rigel was! And you know what else? It really doesn't matter, sir! Least, not to _me_. For God's sake, I'm a half-wolf or something, Rónán is the _real _thing, and Sebastian is a Veela! I don't care if Rigel's half or a quarter …_Goblin_, for that matter! He'll _still _be my friend, even if he was a _Troll_ or something else!"

"Magnus?" Harry tried to cut in, but the boy kept on going.

"And you know what else, sir?" Magnus went on, "You don't know Rigel at _all_, if you think he's dangerous! He thinks he's ill, and he's scared. All he wants is for someone to like him. He _chose_ Hufflepuff just so he could be with _us_, because we were _kind_ to him on the train!" Magnus sniffled and wiped his face on his sleeve. "What the heck kind of _life_ did he have before he met _us_, then? And I hurt him, trying to help Connor. I want to make that up to him!" Magnus got another drink, then threw an unoffending orange across the room. "_I'm _on your bloody list now, _too_, aren't I, sir?"

Harry didn't immediately answer.

"_Thought_ so," Magnus nodded.

"Magnus," Harry got hold of himself, lowering his voice. "It's up to you what to do. I know you spent a lot of money on this stuff, and I _think_ your heart was in the right place. Never mind the fact that those cakes _are _delicious, but if you expose Rigel – even to your own little gang – things could go _very _badly for him. There might even be repercussions of breaking his own Fidelius Charm."

Magnus paled. He hadn't stopped to consider that.

"Wh-what could happen to him, sir?" Magnus had to ask.

"_If_ Rigel Malfoy has Leprechaun heritage," Harry sighed, getting up to go, "He'll be expelled from Hogwarts and banished back into _their_ Realm - forever." He stopped at the door. "Think about it, Watson, about having your cake and eating it, too!"

And then he left.

Magnus sat down at the worktable, staring at his glass of water. It was aligned with one of the old black stoves, and that made the water in the glass into a sort of distorted mirror.

The boy looking back at him had golden eyes.

Not knowing what else to do, Magnus unwrapped one of the moderately sweet chocolate bars and took a bite.

It made him nauseous.

A/N: A Part-Human who loves fish? Any guesses?

**Characters**:

Niamh MacPherson (Malfoy) – Rigel's mum. Orion's wife.

Billy Weasley – a little brother or maybe a cousin of the Twins, too young for Hogwarts. Got drunk on a fruitcake.

Ravenclaw Prefect – some boy, no name yet

Pears:

***Potter Beyond 1**: Harry & Ginny Potter adopted Henry, and also helped raise Orion. Hinted at by Henry during his rant at old Harry. Reasons unknown.


	10. Chapter 10-Orange Carrageen

10-Orange Carrageen  
*

**A/N**: cooking with alcohol warning, for the easily offended! Very mild language. As if you're never heard an eleven year old swear before?

*  
The rest of the weekend was a proverbial wash for Magnus. His outburst at Professor Potter had left him feeling deflated, and he felt just awful about being so disrespectful. It flew in the face of how he'd been raised, and it made his whole family look bad, he knew. He didn't really feel like doing anything, and he even lost his appetite. For a Gove, this was a serious matter. If Madame Pomfrey had only known the extent of this calamity, she would have sent him to St. Mungo's at once. Had his father, Magnus V known, _he_ would have panicked straight away.

But they didn't know.

Just like Magnus' folks back home didn't know how much of a furry little problem he had one night a month.

He didn't even feel comfortable around his friends. He felt like he'd betrayed Rónán's trust, by telling Professor Potter that they thought that Garrett Alcott of Ravenclaw was a Part-Human who liked fish. Magnus didn't know what that particular creature could be yet, but he was going to find out. He supposed he'd have to tackle that awfully large book on Part-Humans, hoping it had a good index. And of course, this got him to worrying about how Garrett and Lucas would get on if Lucas found out. After all, it could be rough having a friend that viewed your other friends (and perhaps distant relatives?) as a food source. The one bright spot, he realized with a sigh, was that upon reading the book about juvenile werewolves, was that he was sure he wasn't going to inadvertently poison Rónán with some ingredient that wolves couldn't eat.

Magnus didn't go up to dinner on Saturday night, which got most of Hufflepuff House's attention at once, and Daniel Birken's in particular. After all, his nightly critique of the food was becoming something of the night's entertainment for them all! Magnus didn't even feel like talking to his friends, but surprisingly, Rigel was the most understanding of this and was the one to drag the others out when Magnus had just said he wanted to be left alone. Of course, with Rigel being the one to take charge of that situation, only made him feel worse.

"Maybe you need an em-men-na?" Rónán had suggested.

"Or a flea dip," Rigel had provoked him, urging them all out the door.

The only good thing was that Sonny had agreed to hide Magnus' groceries behind a very strong Protective Charm of Elf Magic that even a full Leprechaun wouldn't be able to see through.

Should he make the cake or not?  
Could they have their cake, and eat it too?

But Magnus wasn't hungry as he sulked in the deserted dormitory with his books.

And since he'd only told his friends, naturally, the whole school knew about it.

"He's not eating?" Headmaster Hugo Weasley wondered, mouth agape. "This is bad!"

"For a _Weasley_," Professor Orion Malfoy reminded him.

"_You're _a Weasley, too," Hugo reminded him.

"Am _not_!" Orion countered, although he technically was!

"You mean bad that Magnus isn't here, or what I think might once have been carrots?" Madame Iceni asked, pointing at her plate.

"The boy," Hugo clarified, "But you have a good point! Must speak to the Elves."

"Bad for a Gove, from what young Birken and Gran tell me," Professor Pamona Longbottom the Herbologist added. "I should write her at once!"

"The poor dear," Madame Hicks sighed. "I bet he's down there right now, buried in another book. Hearing from Hannah might just help!"

"I shouldn't have gotten so angry with him," Professor Potter shook his head.

"Oh, for Merlin's _sake_, Harry! It's not like he's _your_ child," Orion informed him. "And parental visits this early only make things worse."

"This is all _your_ fault, Orion," Harry informed him.

"_My _fault? How so?" Orion retorted, but Harry just gave him 'the look'.

"You _do_ seem to have taken a liking to him, though, Harry," Madame Pomfrey added. "The way he follows you around like a puppy."

"I hear he's your star pupil?" Professor Peakes put in.

Harry just shook his head.

"Speaking of puppies, where's Hagrid?" Madame Iceni asked.

"Probably fixing his house," Hugo answered. "I have no idea what he blew up, but it was certainly a _good_ one!"

"Beer vat?" Orion wondered.

"Not big enough," Professor Stratton replied, "Mag already asked me."

"Imagine that," Orion sniffed.

"But Hagrid _does_ make good stuff," Stratton added, and Harry choked on his drink. He'd forgotten all about his promise to supply the boy with a bottle of the powerful ale, but then again, Magnus hadn't asked about again it either. As far as he knew, the Hufflepuff's potential Leprechaun trap was on hold.

"Look at that," Hugo pointed to the Hufflepuff table, where a mix of colors were once again gathered at the far end. "Even that other Slytherin boy is with them now, Clifford?"

"'Connor'," Harry corrected him.

"Thanks, Uncle," Hugo smiled. "You know, I just _can't_ get used to that. You're younger than I am!"

Harry just shrugged, but it seemed to blow right over Hugo's head as soon as he'd said it. The Fidelious Charm seemed to be holding just fine. Even old Harry's real family was still fooled. For 'Henry', that sort of hurt, too. As far as they knew, their adopted cousin was abroad. It made him wonder if any of them really cared about _him_.

"Will wonders never cease?" Orion mused, "Rigel's hated Poynter since primary."

Harry looked closer at the Hufflepuff table. He tapped his glasses with his wand in a Telephoto Charm, one that a boy named Colin Creevey had invented over a century before for old Harry. As he recalled, the two of them had been very close.

There were two blue ties/crests in the odd little congregation now, and Harry looked hard at the Alcott boy. They were having pork roast and vegetables that night, but it looked like Alcott had a few tins of something that no one else wanted to be near!

"Indira," he asked Professor Peakes, "Who's that other boy of yours with the motley crew down there?" He pointed. "I don't know him?"

"Oh, that's Rhys Geary," she informed him, "Why?"

"Talk about tardy," Orion complained.

"He just got here last night, been laid up in St. Mungo's for a recurrence of Dragonpox. Poor boy. He was there all summer. I heard he almost lost his nose?" Indira added.

"Oh, well, _that's_ all right then," Orion grumbled. "Forget September the first, just come as you are when you bloody well _feel _like it!"

They all gave him the look again. Orion went back to his meal, but he was forced to agree with Madame Iceni on the state of the vegetables.

"Nasty reconstruction job, poor child. The boils were just huge, they said!" Madame Pomfrey nodded. "At least they sent his records, unlike Poynter's folks."

"What's wrong with Poynter?" Stratton asked.

"He's a spoiled rotten little tosser," Orion mumbled, which got him a jab to the ribs from Harry.

"He's deaf as a post without his hearing aids, and they were giving him horrible migraines," the Mediwitch informed them. "Not to violate confidentiality, since his folks didn't _bother_ to tell us, but it could have been very bad on him if Gove hadn't intervened by befriending him. Now that I've properly fitted the crystals to his ears, he'll be fine, though."

"He didn't want anyone to know, is all," Harry sighed. "He was afraid he wouldn't fit in, or that they'd make fun of him." He looked at Orion, who looked away quickly.

"Well it seems that they've taken young Geary well in hand?" Hugo wondered.

"That's what scares _me_," Stratton agreed.

"Someone should make sure _Gove_ eats, before I stick a feeding tube in him," Madame Pomfrey threatened.

"Sonny will take care of him," Harry assured her. "He's bonded with the Badgers, I think. Teddy sent him to watch Rónán, but that usually means he'll adopt the whole lot of them."

"Sonny the nanny. Now _that's_ frightening!" Hugo laughed, as Harry continued to stare at the new student.

"Is he Indian?" Harry wondered, "Filipino? Mixed?"

"How can you see him from here?" Indira asked, and Harry explained the optical Charm and zoomed in a bit more.

Rhys was indeed deep ruddy-brown, perhaps only very tanned, which didn't make sense if he'd been in Hospital all summer long. He was surely not Caucasian. His face was somewhat flat and quite round, suggesting a certain Asian heritage. He had brown hair that looked to be longer in a strip down the center and buzzed shorter on the sides. Harry could see that his eyes were a strange yellow-flecked-brown, and that they looked a bit dull in the candlelight. His nose was somewhat broad, but not overly so, and his mouth was quite wide. When he closed it, one upper and the opposite, lower, sharp canine teeth protruded over his lips.

Then Harry noticed his ears, as there was _no_ missing them.

Rhys' ears were very pointed and long, and swept back.

"He's a _Goblinoid_!" Harry gasped.

"Right scary little beggar, isn't he?" Orion wondered.

"He's not that bad," Hugo added.

"You've met him?" Harry asked.

"I Sorted him," Hugo replied. "I was afraid he'd eat the Hat."

"Pardon _me_?!" Madame Pomfrey gasped, looking too. "Well _that's _just lovely!" She snorted, borrowing Harry's specs as if at the opera. "_Why_ didn't anyone tell me this when he got here?"

"DO you mind?!" Harry exclaimed.

"Left it out of his records, did they?" Orion grinned. "Can't say I blame them. Who'd _want_ to tell?"

"_Yes,_ they did!" The Mediwitch complained. "The only good thing about _them,_ medically, is that he can eat anything – and I mean _anything_ – without it hurting him!"

"Gove will love him, then," Professor Stratton put in. "And he should be great at Astronomy, since they can see in the dark!"

"The only _good_ thing about _them_?" Harry repeated, with Magnus' rant still echoing in his mind. On recollection, Harry realized that he'd not set a very good example in his own speech about Leprechauns and his use of the term "Part-Human".

"He's one in a million, Harry," Orion reminded him. "When was the last time you heard of a Half-Goblin that survived? It's not an easy mix to make. No one knows much about them, meaning the _hybrids_. No one's insulting the little pumpkin-head," he added.

"There's just one problem, folks," Harry pointed out, rolling his eyes at Orion, "Goblins aren't allowed wands such as we use, as they have their own brand of magic that they don't share with humans! And what's he doing here _at all_, what with as clannish and secretive as they are?"

Hugo was looking a bit pink, the sure sign that he was hiding something.

"Out with it, Nephew," Harry demanded, odd as that sounded for him to be ordering the Headmaster about.

"I was hoping no one would notice," Hugo fudged a bit.

"How can you _miss_ it, with _ears_ like that?!" Orion exclaimed.

"His father was human, his mother was a Goblin," Hugo explained. "The Goblins don't want him because he's not 'Goblin-enough', and his father's family doesn't want him because he's a Goblinoid. Fortunately, the poor little fellow started showing signs of _our_ type of magic when he was about eight. Otherwise, he'd have had nowhere to go."

"I see," Harry mumbled, wondering what had become of Rhys' mixed parents, even though he could well guess, knowing Goblins. "But a Goblin in Ravenclaw? I thought they liked things like dark caves?"

"We got him some dark curtains and sunglasses," Stratton explained.

"A Goblin? In _Ravenclaw_?" Orion snorted. "I thought only top-of-the-line models could even speak English?"

"He looks more human than Goblin," Madame Pomfrey observed, giving Harry back his specs. "Must be that the female Goblin X-genes are recessive?"

"Maybe he's a _southern _Goblin?" Orion added.

"Must be, when was the last time you saw a lady Goblin?" Professor Stratton asked, missing the joke.

"I didn't think there _were_ any," Hugo shrugged, which got him a look from them all.

"He _is_ sort of cute, in a very … fantastical … sort of way?" Pamona pointed out. They all looked at her then. "What? _I_ think he's adorable!" Harry handed her his specs. "Very funny," she sniffed.

"You lot be nice to that poor little boy, he's had a rough life," Stratton warned them. "If I hear of any prejudice, I'll take it out of your Houses on points," he warned them, giving Madame Iceni a long look.

"Tom, we've got just about _every_ breed of Part-Human here that you can even _cross_ with a human!" Orion informed him. "Even Slytherin has an Elf! I think he'll be right at home in our little zoo."

Harry winced. "Zoo?" He asked, but Orion ignored him.

"Slytherin has always liked Part-Sprites, and _Leprechauns,"_ Madame Iceni reminded him. "They're very good students, clever and ambitious, and lucky to have around!" She sighed wistfully. "They're just so very _rare. _Wish I had one, given our Quidditch prospects."

Orion nearly choked, but didn't reply. When the dessert arrived – fruit pies again with a rather boring crust and not enough sugar – he got up and left, throwing his napkin down in disgust.

"What did I say?" Madame Iceni wondered, finding the whipped cream a bit thin.

At the end of the Hufflepuff table, Harry noticed, several pies were being shoved at Rhys the Goblinoid. Harry got up to head that way before they left, as dinner was winding down.

"You actually _like _that?" Ewan was asking Rhys. "Magnus would have _fits!_ I can't stand it, and look at _me_!" The plump boy added.

"Wha's – wrong – with – it?" Rhys asked, as he spoke rather slowly, probably due to the set of his teeth.

"Eat up, mate," Rigel shook his head.

"Thank – you,' Rhys remembered his manners, although he'd gotten quite a bit of pie on his front so far. Goblinoids, after all, were by nature, very messy beings.*

Then they saw Professor Potter.

"Sir?" They all gasped.

"Move over," Harry said, taking a seat between Rigel and Sebastian. "So, Rhys? When did you get here?"

"Just today, sir," Rhys replied. "I have been…disease-ed."

"Krank," Erik Bär corrected him.

"Ill," Ewan grinned, rolling his eyes.

Rhys looked hurt. "I am sorry, my Common is not good when I talk. I mean, English. My teeth are not made for your language."

"Well, you must be intelligent, or you'd not be in Ravenclaw?" Harry wondered.

"I wanted a nice cave, but your Hat said no," Rhys sighed, looking at the boys as if wondering if it were all right to attack yet another piece of pie. Sebastian shoved his slice at him.

"You can spend the night with us anytime," Rónán offered. "And if you like to eat, you'll love our roommate, Magnus. He can cook better than even my House Elf!"

"You have your _very_ own Brownie?" Rhys breathed, a bit of cherry falling into his lap. Rigel handed him another napkin. "I am sorry," he repeated. "I am messy."

"You're a Goblinoid, and that's OK with us," Rónán smiled at him. "At least _you _don't eat those nasty canned fishes!" He jerked his head in Garrett Alcott's direction.

"HEY!" Garrett protested. "I don't like pork, all right?"

"Actually, you fit right in, Rhys," Harry told him, looking all around at the odd assemblage of boys. "I don't think any of them but for Ewan are fully human."

"I am!" Connor protested.

"Me too!" Aaron Jordan added.

"Erm, hello, Uncle?" Rigel raised his hand.

In that instant, another thought came to Harry – "_What if Rigel doesn't_ _know_?" That concerned him. Surely, if his mother Niamh _were_ a Leprechaun, someone would have told the boy?

"I thought you all sat … at your own…places?" Rhys gestured.

"House tables? There's no real rule about that…_is_ there, sir?" Ewan asked Harry.

Harry smiled at him. "No, son, there's not." He then noticed that Rhys' fingers were all the same length as the boy picked up his goblet. He spilled some down his chin. "What, sir?" He asked.

"Just noticing your fingers," Harry informed him. "Good dexterity?"

"I am only…a half a human," Rhys offered, nodding.

"We, ah, noticed that," Ewan nodded.

"Right then," Rónán said, "You got a good memory?" Rhys nodded. "I'm a Werewolf. Erik there is a Werebear. Sebastian is a Veela. Magnus, our ill friend, is a not-quite-werewolf, and Lucas is a half-Sprite."

"Sprite?" Rhys asked.

"Elf," Lucas offered.

Rhys' already wide eyes got even wider. "You are not…going to…come attacking me, _are_ you?" He gasped. "They would not let me bring my weapons!" Rhys looked genuinely frightened, and his butter knife turned into a short, wicked dagger as he grabbed it.

"Goblin magic!" The boys all blurted. Harry took the dagger.

"No, maybe tomorrow?" Lucas just laughed. "Seriously, Rhys? _My_ clan isn't like that anymore, and I'm only half, remember?" They all looked at him. "What? Don't you lot know that Goblins and Elves have hated each other for like…millennia?"

Rhys sighed in relief. "I am glad I am not the only half-person here," he offered. "Sorry."

"I am glad I am nicht the only one with Englisch troubles," Erik smiled.

"I feel left out," Aaron sighed.

"Yeah," Connor agreed.

"Me too," Ewan agreed.

Rigel's left eyebrow went up.

"You're awfully quiet, there, Alcott?" Harry asked the other Ravenclaw, who was currently popping a handful of mints into his mouth. He offered the others some.

"Sir?" Garrett wondered. "Just listening, is all."

"The proper Ravenclaw," Harry nodded. "So, you lot have room for Rhys up there?" He asked, fishing for a clue, and accepting a mint. "I thought they sold out of these?"  
Garrett blushed a bit pink, but just shrugged. "There's an empty bed next to mine, sir," Garrett added. "I believe we can fit him in."

"Thank you. You smell nice," Rhys put in.

"_Excuse_ me?" Garrett gasped in surprise. Lucas and the others laughed. Rónán pointed at his own nose.

"Oh. I guess _you_ lot already know, then?" Garrett said in low voice. "Us and our Part-Human noses, what?"

"Garrett, _why_ are you trying to hide it?" Harry asked him. "Haven't you seen by now that no one is going to care?" He thought about it. "WHAT are you trying to hide?"

"I am so …sorry, Garr-rhett" Rhys offered in his halting speech, "My mother did not teach me…any courtesies. She was a Goblin, you know."

"We noticed that," Rigel nodded, grinning at him.

"It is really…OK…with you?" Rhys asked nervously. Then he looked down at his lap. He picked up his napkin as if he didn't know what to do with it and wiped clumsily at his hands and face. He only made it worse, but at least he tried. "I am sure there is…somewhere outside I can sleep, if it is a problem? I am used to being not wanted."

"Boys, keep him _away_ from Hagrid," Harry palmed his face.

"It's not easy being a Goblinoid, is it?" Rigel asked curiously. "But hey – at least you get your own _pronoun_! The rest of us just get 'Part-whatever'!"

Harry blinked. Was it an admission? Was Rigel perhaps bound by some unknown Leprechaun magic to not divulge his secret, and he was hinting at it? Did he _hope _someone might figure it out?

"Rhys?" Harry prompted him, "No one is going to make you sleep outside."

"No one liked me, not even my doctors when I was sick," Rhys said, "I hoped they would…fix my nose like yours, when my sores healed. But they put it back just as it were." He sniffled. "The dentist wouldn't fix my teeth either. Father had asked them last year to cut my …ears down, but they…refused."

Harry said nothing at all. He just sat and listened, shocked that this somewhat ugly little boy would have requested cosmetic surgery just so that someone would like him. _You people don't like much of anyone, do you? _Magnus had asked him. Harry put his arm around Rhys' shoulders. "You're find, just the way you are, kid. You might need those special ears or teeth someday."

"Mother always said they would not let me come here, even if I had human magic," Rhys admitted. "I hope I do not fail and be kicked out."

"Rhys," Sebastian cut in, "Relax. You'd just about have to murder someone to get expelled!"

"It's all right," Garrett then spoke up. "No harm done. Is it _that _obvious, mates?"

"I am sorry, we were talking about you, not me," Rhys looked down again.

"Dude!" Ewan laughed, "Rónán knew first time he saw you, Garrett!"

"We were wondering when you would tell us," Sebastian noted.

Rónán smiled wanly at him. "Seeing as how my kind considers yours a food source, yeah, I could smell it, too."

Garrett looked stunned. So did Rhys.

"You are not going to…_eat _him?" Rhys gasped.

"Yeah, _he's_ a Ravenclaw, all right," Rigel rolled his eyes.

"_Ne_phew," Harry warned him. "He's just a bit naïve, is all. Be nice."

Then Garrett and Rónán both laughed. "I'm an idiot," Garrett admitted. "Actually, I'm a Selkie," he confessed. "Do you Goblinoids like to swim?" He then asked Rhys.

Rhys looked shocked. "Not if I can avoid it! It is like having a _bath_!" He snorted.

"You have to bathe every day, here, son," Harry warned him, and the shocked look on Rhys' face got them all to laughing.

"That is not healthy," Rhys declared, shocked. "_Every_ day?"

"What's a Slicky?" Ewan asked.

"'Selkie'," Lucas corrected him, smiling. "For all intents and purposes, he's a Wereseal, only he isn't regulated by the full moon. He can turn into a seal whenever he likes. If he's really good, maybe even a large sea lion!"

"I…I wanted to tell you, what with you being a water-Sprite and all," Garrett admitted.

**POP!**

"What is you all's still doing up heres?" Tweaky demanded, as he and the other Elves appeared to clean the Hall.

They hadn't noticed that the Hall had emptied out; they'd all been so engrossed in chatting.

"Sonny!" Rónán greeted his Elf. "This our new friend, Rhys!"

Sonny gasped, his ears waving. "Nice earses!" He complimented Rhys. "You is parts Goblin! Very nice," Sonny added, touching one of Rhys' ears. "Very _handsome_ ears, Sonny says!"

"Thank you," Rhys looked very surprised. "I…I always wanted to meet a Brownie!"

"I is an Elf," Sonny countered.

"You are a large Brownie," Rhys shook his head. "Lucas is an Elf." Sonny looked perplexed.

"_Told_ you," Lucas sniffed.

"Are you going to sit in there all night?" Stratton called from the doors. "Potter! You're the DADA teacher – some up here and make sure that my new boy's accommodations are in order!"

Harry got up to go. "Boys?" He prompted them, "Why don't you lot show Rhys around before curfew, and while you're at it – try and get Magnus out of the Cellar? He's depressing me."

"You live in the _cellar_?" Rhys gasped. "Can we _see_ it?"

"Later, I promise," Rigel nodded at him.

On the way out, Harry stopped Garrett Alcott. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes, sir!" Garrett smiled at him, as Harry ruffled his blue-black hair.

"Very slick," He joked, "Feels like a pelt!"

"Yeh _think_?!" Garrett smiled even brighter at him.

Magnus had fallen asleep on his bed with a copy of **What Am I?**…over his face like a small tent. This was where his roommates found him, and they debated on whether or not to wake him up. They decided to do this only _after_ they'd summoned Liam Creevey to take a picture of him!

"Wha…what time is it?" Magnus yawned.

"You missed dinner," Sebastian informed him. "Everyone wondered where you were."

"You didn't?" Magnus gasped, seeing Liam and Daniel. "You _did_!"

Liam nodded happily.

"Guess the Elves didn't want to wake you up," Daniel said, "Mag, wha's bothering you?"

"Nothing," Magnus fudged, looking at his friends.

"You know your scent changes when you lie, and when you're upset," Rónán pointed at his own nose, "And you're both."

"Homesick, Mag?" Daniel asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"No, that was last week," Magnus admitted.

"No wonder there's not been much scoffing," Daniel nodded. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten me!"

"Lot on my mind," Magnus told them. "I'm sorry. Perhaps Tuesday night?"

"Word from the Twins is you got them to bring you a load of stuff, at cut rate," Rigel hinted. "I saw there were oranges involved? Seeing as how there was one splattered all over the wall?"

"I…I was thinking about some Carrageen," Magnus nodded. "Extra sugar and zest, though? But I couldn't get any seaweed."

"Tha's because Alcott bought it all," Ewan put in.

"Why?" Magnus asked.

"He's a Selkie," Rigel shrugged.

"He _told_ you?" Magnus gasped, and they all nodded. "Thought so," He pointed at the book. "I _knew_ it when the Twins said some Ravenclaw had them get him canned fishes."

"Even _I_ won't eat those," Ewan pulled a face.

"Rhys will," Rigel shrugged.

"Who's Rhys?" Magnus asked.

"See what you get for missing staff meetings?" Rónán laughed. "We got a new kid. He was ill all summer. Jus' got here. Ravenclaw, of all things! Oh, and he's a Goblinoid, too."

"A _what_?" Magnus gasped again, grabbing the book back up. He scanned the index, then turned to page 394. "I can't imagine he didn't Sort with us," Magnus mused, pointing at the page. "His mum is a Goblin?" They all nodded.

"I thought werewolves were on page 394?" Rónán asked.

"Revised edition, you got bumped by a hundred pages," Rigel grinned. "Now, chapter 4 is pretty interesting!"

"Rhys looks _nothing_ like a Gringotts pure Goblin," Sebastian noted.

"Well, tha's perked Mag right up," Daniel observed, smiling.

"Mag loves a mystery," Rigel shrugged. "So, since you've napped all afternoon, we cooking up anything tonight?"

Magnus blinked.

"The Elves tried to make fruit pies again," Rónán sighed.

"Oh, _God_," Magnus rolled his eyes. He glanced at the book again. "Rhys ate it, though?"

They all laughed and nodded.

"He's a nice kid, Mag. We should invite him next time, once he's settled," Ewan advised.

"You should invite _us _next time!" Daniel reminded him.

"So, with all the groceries you got, are we on for tonight?" Rigel repeated.

"_Please_ say yes, Mag," Sebastian nodded. "Those pies…"

"Fine! Yes, all _right_!" Magnus caved in, giving them all a long look. "Is there time for someone to run up to Ravenclaw Tower and get some seaweed from Garrett?"

Rónán changed form at once. "I can make it!" He barked.

"You can't open doors," Magnus reminded him.

"Oh bollocks," Rónán muttered, changing back.

The boys laughed. "At least they don't _neuter_ werewolves, even if you _are_ housebroken!" Rigel laughed.

Magnus held up a finger. He got up and rummaged about in his desk. "Hall pass!" He said proudly, handing it to Rónán. Then he pulled his wand. He tapped it, and the date and destination changed. "Professor Potter gave me this!"

"You got a _carte blanche_ corridor pass?" Liam gasped. "You are such a suck-up!"

Magnus grinned. Rónán fled.

The boys went to the kitchen. "You's is early," Tweaky informed them. "You feels better now?" The Elf then offered him some leftover dinner.

Magnus nodded. "Thank you. We'll clean up here, why don't you lot knock off early? But don't leave the school," Magnus added hastily.

Rónán returned about ten minutes later with the two Ravenclaws in tow.

"So, this what you call 'scoffing', then?" Garrett Alcott asked.

"We are going to eat again?" Rhys smiled. "Already?"

"You must be Rhys?" Magnus offered his hand.

"Yes, thank you, I have heard all about you," Rhys offered slowly and shyly. Magnus smiled at him. Rhys smiled back, which was a bit scary, considering his teeth. Liam wanted to take a picture with him.

"This is a nice cellar!" the little Goblinoid gasped. "Can I stay here?"

The door opened again, and the Twins entered. "Got your message, Mag," they said in stereo. "So, did you find that beer yet?" They looked at Rhys. "Ah! Our resident Goblin!" They smiled. "Heard about you!"

"How do they _do_ that?" Rhys wondered.

"So, cake, Mag?" The Twins asked, "Seeing as how we skipped dessert?"

"'Cake'?" Rigel wondered.

"Not yet, we're doing Carrageen," Magnus replied.

"Nice!" The Twins agreed, giving their cousin a look.

"_What_?" Rigel asked.

"Nothing," they smiled at him.

"With you two, it's _always_ something," Rigel snorted.

They gathered their ingredients, which consisted of: 1 ½ cups of carrageen seaweed, ½ cup warm water, 3 cups milk, juice and zest of one orange (Magnus thought they'd use two), juice and zest of one lemon, and 3 tablespoons sugar or 2 tablespoons golden syrup (Magnus decided to use both). As there were so many of them this time, Magnus tripled the recipe.

Magnus instructed Garrett to get a bowl, and add warm water to the carrageen. "Allow it to soak for 15 minutes," he said.

"See you found some after all," The Twins observed. Garrett blushed a bit.

"They're _fairly_ safe," Rigel nodded to him. "You can tell them."

"I'm a Selkie," Garrett mumbled.

"Are you _really_?" Daniel and Liam gasped.

"We _know_," the Twins leered at Garrett, "We saw you cavorting in the lake!"

Garrett blushed. "Thanks for getting that stuff for me. And for not telling."

"Oh, no!" – "Thank _you_ for the…" – "…generous tip!…" – "…Unlike some other…" – "…cheapskates," they looked at Magnus. Magnus ignored them.

Meanwhile, Magnus had put the milk into a saucepan and was bringing it carefully to a simmer while Sebastian zested the fruits. He had Ewan put aside a teaspoon of the orange zest to use as a garnish.

When the carrageen was ready, it was added to the milk, along with the rest of the orange and lemon zests, with Rigel stirring frequently. He had a dreamy expression on his face. "Me and Mum used to make this stuff," he sighed. "We haven't in ages, though."

As the milk and carrageen mixture started to thicken (which it will do pretty quickly), Sebastian added the lemon and orange at Magnus' prompting.

Rhys was fascinated, as were the Twins with him. They chatted while the Hufflepuffs plus Garrett worked.

"Now the hard part. We keep stirring frequently for about the next twenty to twenty-five minutes," Rigel pointed out. "Be careful never to allow the milk to boil, or we'll destroy the carrageen jelling properties."

"I think you know more about this one that I do!" Magnus noted.

"I _love _this stuff. Thanks, Mag," Rigel nodded, which gave Magnus a small pang of guilt.

"Then we have to strain the milk mixture into a jug, discard the used carrageen and cooked zest, and pour the pudding mixture into dessert bowls. They should set at least overnight before serving, but I think I can cheat there." Magnus advised.

"Then we garnish with the remaining orange zest," Rigel nodded. "I used to hate having to wait!"

As they were using a gelatin mold, Ewan oiled it lightly and poured in the pudding mixture with Rigel's help. Magnus added a bit more carrageen, then waved his hand over the mold. It solidified at once.

"Success!" Rigel smiled, pulling his wand and giving it a small Chilling Charm.

It was some hours before midnight, but that was all right with the boys.

Rigel sighed happily as he tasted his serving first. "_Merlin_, this is better than Mum ever made!"

"You have _got_ to start having cooking classes for the Elves, Mag," Fabian advised.

"Yes, you should have seen tonight's pies," Gideon agreed.

"What was _wrong_ with the pies?" Rhys asked again. They all smiled at him.

"They're not properly chilling the dough for the crusts, nor using enough lard," Magnus theorized. "As the lard bakes, it causes flaking, you see."

"This much sugar is going to keep us up all night long," The Twins stated.

"How do you feel about a bit of snooping?" Magnus wondered, filling them in on Professor Potter's theory of book theft and how another should have vanished by now.

"Yeah, Dad's pretty sick of stakeout duty already," Rigel laughed. "Me, I think it was a fluke. Who'd want that old book?"

"Well, we've solved one mystery," Magnus nodded at Garrett. "What I really want to know is how Hagrid's hut got blown out in the back, too."

"So, you do this a lot?" Rhys asked.

"Not often enough," Daniel shook his head.

"I want to do it again!" Liam agreed.

"This is a very nice cave," Rhys observed. They sort of laughed at him. "I am sorry. I don't have … I have never had other boys to talk to very much."

"It's good to have friends," Rigel nodded.

They all turned to look at him.

Rigel's hair had gone back to a rich copper cast, and his eyes were glittering green amidst a scattering of obvious freckles.

"Uh oh, way past curfew," The Twins pointed out, changing the subject.

"I think it's time we had a class,…" Fabian offered.

"…in Disillusionment Charms!" Gideon agreed.

"Are we in trouble?" Rhys wondered.

"Only if we get caught!" The Twins laughed. "Now, the first thing you do…" they began to lecture in alternating phrases.

About an hour later, and the boys were mostly able to blend themselves into the background like chameleons.

"We've not even had this Charm yet!" Daniel laughed.

"Near the end of Second Year," Gideon advised.

"You've got the jump on it!" Fabian agreed.

"You can impress dear old Uncle Orion with it!" Gideon added.

"_Nothing_ impresses Dad," Rigel snorted.

"This is so amazing!" Garrett laughed.

And so, with their 'sweet teeth' satisfied for the night, the boys set out to be out of bed and out of bounds. They were all running on sugar, and Magnus had had a nap. They spread out over the Third Floor Corridor, narrowly avoiding a few Quicksand Tiles and Sinking Steps along the way.

"Rigel," Magnus whispered from their hiding place behind a suit of armor. "I wanted to make something special for you, you know, to make up for the thing with Connor."

"You just did?" Rigel whispered back, "If I'd known why he was like he _was_…poor little git. I can't imagine headaches like that."

"Rigel," Magnus insisted, "I bought the things to make something…_really _special with. But, I don't know if I should."

"I _know_ what you want to make," Rigel whispered a reply, "And if you think that I…"

"I hear something," Rónán hissed, interrupting them. There was a sound of sniffing and nails scuffing on stone. Rónán had changed form.

There was a faint creak of a door – to the library.

At the far end of the corridor, a shadow the height of a tall boy moved along the wall in the dim torchlight. No torches flared up.

"Homenum Revelio!" Magnus whispered.

Nothing.

Magnus recognized the sound. It was that woody, 'clumping' sound he'd heard before. Then it vanished, but not before some of them heard one whispered word: "Effluo!"

"Someone just cast Disillusion!" The Twins hissed.

Rónán sprang from behind the plinth of his statue across the way, in his wolf form and gave chase, instinct taking over. There was an awful clatter of noise, then an explosion of cyan light and a THUD!

An alarm began to sound in the Castle.

"Run for it!" The Twins advised.

The boys all scattered as the Twins fired Hexes on the torches, extinguishing them.

"With me!" Rhys snarled, his eyes now glowing golden in the dark. The Ravenclaws and the Twins headed up at the first staircase they came to, while the Hufflepuffs headed down, following Sebastian.

"I'm no nighthawk, but I can manage in the dark," the Veela said, as more footsteps filled the corridor.

"Take the east side!" They heard Professor Potter call.

"Right!" Professor Malfoy agreed, as the corridors lit up with red Stunners fired blindly.

From the second floor came sounds of sniffing, then a "trail bark."

"What is he, a fox hound?" Rigel complained. "He'll wake the whole school!"

Then there came another CRACK! which sounded a lot like House Elf Apparation.

The boys jumped a banister and slid to the relative safety of the lower floor!

"What have you got?" Harry shouted, his voice echoing.

"Our missing book, oddly enough," Orion answered.

"Hominum Revelio!" Harry said, and the boys felt the wave passing over them. They clustered in front of Ewan, Daniel and Liam, trying to shield them.

"Nothing," Harry complained.

"Which only means that our Part-or-Non-Human is back," Orion stated.

"Or that our _other _ones are out of bed," Harry mused. "I think we should go and see what Watson is cooking tonight!"

"Who's Watson?" Ewan whispered softly.

"_**Me**_!" Magnus gasped, as they fled. Minutes later, as the boys ducked into the kitchen, they failed to notice the fading cyan glow. They ran on it to their dorms, madly putting on their pyjamas. Daniel and Liam dived into their beds. Professors Potter and Malfoy found the Firsties seated at the worktable in the kitchen, with flour and sugar flying about as biscuit dough was being mixed.

The teachers studied the boys.

"I had no idea that making biscuits was so exhausting," Orion wondered, noting their panting. "Where's Wolfboy?" He added.

"Dad!" Rigel exclaimed, handing him a dish. "We've just made a _wicked _Carrageen! Have some!"

They both just stared at the boys.

Magnus happily cracked a few eggs into the bowl.

"It'd be rude to refuse a good scoff," Harry advised.

"'Scoff'?" Orion wondered, tasting the dessert. His eyes went wide.

Then he saw his son's appearance. His eyebrows went up.

"You lot made this?" He asked.

"Well…Garrett helped, but he got back to his Tower," Magnus explained. "He had all the seaweed!"

"I see," Harry nodded slowly. "This is really sweet, Watson. So what did you find out?"

The boys froze.

Rónán came stumbling in from the Cellar door, in his pyjamas, with Sonny tagging along.

"Nothing unusual here," Harry noted.

"What?!" Orion gasped. "You mean they stay up at night and cook?"

"Pretty much, Dad," Rigel explained. "Someone's got to do it!"

"Hey!" Sonny groused.

"Well, boys, you'll be happy to know that our missing book was found on the floor, just outside the library," Harry informed them.

"It's also been recently hexed to hide all traces it could have told us," Orion nodded. "Magic well beyond a Firstie, even a Fourth Year, though, so I suppose…" he eyed the mixing bowl, where Magnus was tossing sultanas in, "…just carry on, with those…" He conceded, finishing off his Carrageen. "Mum would be pleased," he said to his son. "Just fix your hair in the morning, Rigel."

Rigel blinked, feeling at his head. He grabbed a metal dipper and studied his distorted reflection.

Harry winked at Magnus. "I think we'll wait here a bit for the biscuits," he added, pulling up a stool. "So, have you met Rhys Geary yet, Mag?"

"Oh, yes, we scoffed a bit early," Magnus nodded. "He really likes it down here."

The Professors exchanged a look.

"He can see very well in the dark, too, being a Goblinoid," Orion added.

"_Can_ he?" Rigel wondered.

"I think he's very lonely," Sebastian pointed out.

"I think he's in good hands," Harry said, as Magnus put a sheet of biscuits in to bake. "I see you're feeling better?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Thought you were wanting to bake a cake?" Harry prompted him.

Magnus looked at Rigel. Rigel flicked an eyebrow at him. "Something Irish, I wonder?"

"Only if everyone agrees on it, sir," Magnus nodded.

Sonny looked up from the Carrageen he was nibbling at. "This is _way_ too sweets," he critiqued it.

"So, I hear you invite others to these little feasts?" Orion asked. "Madame Iceni mentioned it? Who else has been here?"

The boys told him.

"You never invited _me_," Orion looked at his son.

"We're behind schedule, sir, Sonny was Charming my pillow so I'd not wake up," Magnus explained.

"We have to make a Red Velvet Cake for Headmaster Weasley," Sebastian reminded them. "He said we could get away with murder if we did!"

"He was _joking_!" Harry exclaimed.

By this time, the improvised sultana biscuits were done. Magnus pulled the sheet out with his bare hands, steam rolling in a wandless Cooling Charm.

"Five points for Hufflepuff on that one!" Orion gasped. "How do you _do_ that?"

"Make it ten," Harry added, biting into a perfectly chewy biscuit.

The boys all smiled. Magnus put another sheet in, nibbling at one of his impromptu creations. They had cold milk and more biscuits, until it was almost midnight. Then the tapestry opened, and a few older Slytherin students entered.

There were a few select expletives uttered when they saw the teachers. Magnus offered them biscuits. Professor Malfoy took points and dished out detentions, _but_ he let them keep the biscuits.

"We could get to know _everyone_, if we keep this up!" Ewan smiled.

"You lot _made _these?" One older boy asked. "Merlin, _why_ don't we ever get the good ones in our House?"

"Let's have yours 'to go', shall we, Bott?" Harry insisted.

"'Bott'?" Magnus asked, "Like the Beans?"

"I own the company, or rather, I _will_," Brian Bott informed him, looking around. "Where's that new Goblin boy?"

"What's he got to do with it?" Orion asked.

"Well, they can see in the dark, sir," Bott replied. "Most useful for sneaking out!"

"He's a Slytherin, all right," Harry shook his head. "Back to bed, kids. I'm sure Hagrid will be longing for your company tomorrow afternoon in his barn?"

The Slytherins sighed and departed.

"Thanks for the biscuits, 'Puffs!" They called back.

"We should be going, too," Orion reasoned. "Even if there is no trail to follow."

Harry lingered a bit. When Orion had gone, he turned to Magnus and the boys. "Word of advice, Rónán, when you go to bed, take your shoes off!"

Rónán looked at his feet and gasped. He was wearing his good school dress shoes. "Oh, bollocks!"

"Spill it," Harry insisted. "I know a werewolf on the track when I _hear _one!"

"There was a Portkey, sir!" Magnus spoke up. "And that clumping noise again!"

"I smelled…I dunno what I smelled," Rónán shook his head. "It was almost like Hippogriff odor, but not quite."

"A _Hippogriff_ stole the book, and escaped via Portkey, from within the school?" Harry gasped, "Are you _mad_?!"

"But sir, a Portkey _inside_ the Castle?" Rigel asked. "Wouldn't that mean that someone with security know-how made it?"

Harry looked thoughtful. "Yesssss," he hissed under his breath, "It would!"

He then opened the door, and a few older Gryffindors came spilling in. "Biscuits, then bed, and you lot can help the Slytherins shovel manure tomorrow," Harry informed them.

"We better make more dough," Magnus mused.

"The people you meet after midnight!" Sebastian smiled.

It was much later when they finally got ready for bed, after meeting a few more students and assuring Headmaster Weasley, near two in the morning, that they were going to make his cake.

"Guys," Rónán whispered, "There's a problem."

"What?!" They all gasped.

"My Charms textbook is missing!" Rónán pointed to his rucksack, which had been opened and rifled through.

**End Notes****:  
Characters**: Rhys Geary, sick all summer with Dragonpox. Ravenclaw. Had a nose job. Half-Goblin. A link can be supplied to a picture of Rhys upon request.

*Credit for ideas: **A Practical Guide to Monsters** by Zendric, Mirrorstone Books, ©2007. Also the source for the Werebear mythology.

Safe links courtesy of Malwarebytes software.

About the name Niamh:  wiki/Niamh

About selkies:  folklore/selkiefolk/

See also the movie "The Secret of Roan Inish"

Desserts:  Ireland-Desserts-Orange-And-Lemon-Carrageen-Pudding-Dessert

Brian Bott – older Slytherin. Will inherit the Every Flavor Bean Co.


	11. Chapter 11-and Eating It, Too!

11-…and Eating it Too

**A/N:** _**Warning**_ – Mild language and alcohol consumption.

_Dear Dad, Sorry it's been so long since my last letter. We've been very busy here, what with schoolwork and all. It's all going well; I don't think I'm getting any bad marks, except in flying. It just literally makes me ill.  
There's a few mysteries that we're trying to solve as well, although we've figured out one of them. Of course you remember that Teddy Lupin thought he'd cured me of my werewolf bite, but I do seem to have a bit of a problem with growing hair when the moon is full. By next morning, it's all gone, though, or I can just shave it off. I wanted to let you know that I've __**not **__turned into the real thing, like my roommate, Rónán.  
I was also wondering, Dad, if anyone from the Ministry of Magic has contacted you? Professor Potter and I had quite the row the other night, all over the fact that it's obvious that these 'real' Wizards and Witches don't like a lot of us. And yes, by that, I mean 'me'. It seems that if you're not a real human, or don't come from enough of a magical background, they don't want much to do with you.  
They call us Part-Humans, and it's their law to have you down on a list so they can keep an eye on you. So far, we've got quite a few Part-Human students here. One of my other mates is a Veela, a boy who can turn into a humanoid bird of sorts. We just found out, although I suspected, that another boy is a Selkie (that's a seal), and of course, I think I told you that Lucas was a half-Sprite. We also have a Werebear from Germany, and a latecomer who is half-Goblin. He's just gotten over being very ill, and I don't think he's happy here. Of course he's come to scoff with us, and seems all right with that, but they say that Goblins can eat anything. I don't know how _that _reflects upon my cooking. So far, a Carrageen has been the most complex thing we've made, in addition to a Spotted Dick with custard. I must teach these House Elves how to cook! The desserts here are awful. I think Hogwarts must be on a tight food budget, as they never use enough sugar or lard.  
One other problem, Dad, is that I want to make a Chocolate Orange Guinness Cake for my friend, Rigel. I hurt his feelings pretty bad when I was just trying to help another boy who really needed a friend.  
The problem is that it might do something odd to him, in that I don't think he's all-human either. And I think that if the teachers find out, it might go bad here for him. I know he'd really love it, he hinted at it, but after what Professor Potter said to me, I'm not sure I should do it. And I really _thought_ he liked me, what with the night he rescued me and all. The good thing is, we've been far too busy to make anything too exotic, like that cake, but I don't know if I can put this off much longer.  
From what I can see, this is the most Part-Humans that Hogwarts had ever had. What do you think? Your son, Magnus VI.  
PS – we're attempting a Red Velvet Cake for the Headmaster soon.  
I'll let you know.  
Love,  
Magnus VI_

Magnus read the letter several times, then composed a similar one to his "Gran" Hannah. He sent them off with his owl, Auguste, hoping for a quick reply.

Just as Ewan had surmised, the Hufflepuff Firsties met up with all sorts of interesting people "'round midnight', as they had begun referring to their clandestine acts of cooking. The next week passed quickly for them, and contrary to popular belief, they even learned that Brian Bott and his Slytherins weren't necessarily "a gang of thugs". The Slytherin Prefect was, in fact, so impressed with Magnus' talents that he set them up with a continuous supply of Every Flavor Beans – in return for a continuing supply of late night biscuits. This, of course, led the boys to invent the "Roulette Biscuit," which had similarly colored Beans baked into them. The problem was, you never knew what you were going to get…hence the name!

"GAHHHHH!" Sebastian had choked, on the first batch they'd made. "The dark speckled brown ones are _liver_!"

That was all good, though, as Rhys ate _them_.

Bott was so impressed that he also looked into the matter of Aidan Adams, who, by that Tuesday morning, had become rather sedate and _almost _polite to his roommates. Yet despite an invitation (the usual wrapped biscuits with a card) from the Hufflepuffs, Adams never showed up for a scoff. He also declared the biscuits poisoned, which were deemed "your loss!" by Bott – who promptly ate them for him. There were also rumors of Adams' necktie contracting a few inches at random, following an official Prefect's visit by Bott. The evidence, however, was all circumstantial.

During that next week, the Hufflepuffs met up with Quincy Quilliam, whose family owned **Quality Quidditch Supplies**. He was impressed with Ewan's ongoing efforts at learning flying, and he gave Magnus a recipe for an advanced motion sickness potion. The boy was a Sixth Year Gryffindor, which in turn, led them to meeting up with most of Gryffindor's Upperclassmen. One of these was Bianca Blott, of **Flourish & Blott's**, who in turn supplied Magnus with some very nice quills and stationery for writing home.

"There's a _lot _of people in this school," Ewan observed, as they headed into the next weekend.

"Tell me about it!" Magnus agreed, trying to keep all of their random midnight guests straight.

Fortunately for Rónán and Magnus, the full moon had moved over a night. This meant that the boys would be able to attend Astronomy without any difficulties, and Professor Stratton promptly made the boys a calendar to hang up in their room to make sure that the boys never missed one. For Magnus, this meant another bout of "hypertrichosis" and some serious nail trimming, but nothing more. Rónán was disappointed, and once again made the offer that it was nothing that a quick nip couldn't solve. Magnus politely declined, having already been bitten once "was quite enough, _thank_ you!" as he put it. The calendar also gave them a good idea of what nights to sleep through, as the schoolwork load had increased dramatically with the completion of their first month. In fact, there was so much of it, that biscuits were the only things that the boys had time to make and still be able to sleep.

The bottle of Guinness, however, which Magnus had found on the worktable that next night, was currently packed in his trunk – unopened.

The need for sleep, of course, had been painfully taught to the boys in Potions class. Madame Iceni had decided to throw a pop quiz in making a Shrinking Solution, and the boys were so tired that Rigel had gone face-down on his desk, knocking his cauldron askew and right into Garrett Alcott's lap! Luckily for the unfortunate Ravenclaw, Rigel's solution had been a bit watery, and had only caused Garrett's underpants to shrink several sizes. It had taken a carefully executed Diffindo Charm to cut them, and the pants were just the right size for an action figure when they'd fallen to the floor.

"Lucky you didn't end up neutered!" Rigel had observed.

"You just had to say the n-word again, didn't you?" Rónán had grimaced.

Detention had been served that evening, with Magnus and Rigel teaching the House Elves how to make a proper pie crust with judicious amounts of lard. He then mixed some of his pears with some late season apples he'd found on the grounds, to make a very sweet and unique confection that turned Sonny's stomach, but made Madame Iceni sigh in delight and swear that she'd gained five pounds again. Magnus assured her that the secret was all in the cinnamon and nutmeg with a dash of ginger and some golden syrup, and that she looked a bit on the underfed side to him. He'd also earned another five points for that.

Still, there was the balancing of classes, homework, baking, sleuthing, and detentions.

When the next full moon came, Rónán was so tired from it all that he simply changed form and went to bed. The boys left a platter of biscuits in the kitchen with a note for any would-be scoffers, then turned in as well. It had been, after all, an exhausting week. And just as Magnus had written to his father, there really hadn't been time to attempt the C-O-G cake. Then again, Rigel hadn't asked further about it, either.

Neither had Professor Potter, who also didn't say anything about Magnus missing DADA classes.

And Magnus just _knew _where that bottle of Guinness had come from.

_So does he _want _me to make it? _The boy couldn't help but wonder_. Does he want _me_ to expose Rigel, because _he_ can't?_ Sadly enough, Magnus was beginning to realize that even though he was the Secret Keeper, he didn't really trust Henry Griffiths (or Harry Potter, as everyone thought) anymore. And the more he thought about it, he was certain that he didn't like the cantankerous _old_ Harry one single bit.

Magnus had packed the bottle of beer in his truck before Rigel could see it.

"You know, we need a secret signal of some kind," Rónán said, as they were getting into bed that night. "So that them what's in the loop will know we're making something big!"

"Yeah, that way there's no disappointments," Rigel added.

"What about this?" Ewan wondered, putting his hand flat against his stomach and moving it in a circular motion.

"Good idea," Magnus agreed, although his heart really wasn't in it.

"We'll have to be careful about who knows," Sebastian put in. "I think we can just send the usual invitations to teachers."

"I don't know if we should anymore," Magnus replied.

Rigel raised up from his pillow. "You and Uncle Harry have a falling out?" He asked, shaking his head with a grin. "Don't worry about it. Saw you cut DADA the last couple times, and besides, they're not the most affectionate family in the world, you know."

"I know," Magnus had to agree, realizing just how homesick he still was.

"Besides, we still owe Uncle Hugo a cake," Rigel hinted.

Magnus exhaled hard and pulled his blanket over his head.

It was the end of the second week in October, dawning with the threat of colder weather and colored leaves on the way, that Rhys the Goblinoid met Hagrid. The day's lesson plan for CoMC had been to winterize the Hippogriff herd, which involved giving them their last bath of the season. With the temperature around 75F/24C, Hagrid declared that the warm spell was much too good to last, and that they'd have to work quickly. Given their past history with Hagrid's classes, however, many of the students were wary of this lesson. Rhys, in fact, was particularly terrified.

"Now keep in mind, they're proud beasts," Hagrid instructed them, "What you want to do is bow low, and let your Hippogriff make the next move. And whatever you do, _do not_ offend them! It might just be the last thing you _ever _do!"

"Old Grandfather Draco found that one out the hard way," Rigel told his mates, as he bowed low to a white one named "Blizzard". Blizzard seemed to take right to him, but that was when Hagrid noticed Rhys hiding behind a large tree. The little Goblinoid lowered his hood and checked the strap of his sunglasses, as the bright day would have otherwise blinded him. He tried to stay hidden, but Hagrid saw him.

"Who's that?" Hagrid wondered, "We pick up a stray?"

"He arrived late," Magnus replied.

"Wonder he arrived at _all_," Adams rolled his eyes, "I'd watch your overgrown chicken, there, _sir_. He might eat it!"

Blizzard promptly swatted Adams with his tail, knocking the boy down and squawking at him for good measure.

"Is that boy a _Goblin-_mix?" Hagrid gasped.

"Not having any luck there, Adams?" Rigel asked, just as another by the name of Goldie, decided that her breakfast of dead ferrets hadn't agreed with her at all. The mess, aimed generally in Adams' direction, had been…spectacular.

Magnus blinked. There it was again – the word "luck". He also noticed Lucas Bole giving Rigel the same hard look, but Rigel was too busy telling Blizzard what a good boy he was to notice.

Meanwhile, Hagrid seemed to have forgotten about his class as he tried to coax Rhys into joining them. "I don't think they'd like me, sir," Rhys protested.

"How can they _not_, with them ears and fangs o'yers?" Hagrid wondered. "Has Madame P. gave you the once-over yet?"

Rhys shook his head, which proved to be a mistake. On his way to the repaired cabin, however, Hagrid _did_ have time to hit Adams with a Cleaning Charm.

"Thanks, awfully," the Slytherin snorted.

"You didn't listen," Fiona Finnigan informed him, where she and the girls seemed to undertaking a manicure session with the female Hippogriff. "You don't insult such a pretty creature, especially not one with a sad tummy!" She stroked Goldie's beak. Goldie made an odd little sound and nuzzled her. "Did that nasty little boy make you ill, sweetie?" She crooned.

"I think _I'm_ ill," Adams mumbled in disgust. "What _is_ he doing now?" He added, pointing to where Hagrid now had Rhys seated upon an enormous pumpkin. He was currently looking into Rhys' right ear with an odd medical contraption of some kind.

"But you've got a few pox scars!" Hagrid declared, as the boys continued to brush out Blizzard's coat and look for bad feathers.

"Least _he_ likes us," Magnus sighed.

"Who?" Sebastian wondered.

"Never mind."

"Yes, sir," Rhys' face turned even darker red. "They said they were permanent," he offered in his halting speech.

"Little freak can't even talk right!" Adams sniffed. "Can't _wait_ to hear him do his oral report in history class!" He laughed.

"Leave it alone, _Addie_," Rigel warned him.

"Of course, with teeth like that, it's a wonder he can talk at all. He must be the smartest Goblin alive!" Adams smiled, showing his near-perfect teeth.

"Put this spruce oil extract on 'em, and they'll clear right up," Hagrid told Rhys, handing him a small jar of ointment. "Can't believe St. Mungo's don't know 'bout this stuff! Firs' thing to treat scars with, soon as fever breaks."

Rhys didn't look up, though. But Magnus saw that his ears moved.

Rhys had heard it all.

"Th-thank you," Rhys mumbled, hopping down and putting his hood back up, despite the warm day. He walked right past his friends and Blizzard without looking at them. "Nice Hip-pow-Gwiff," he managed the word, but only just.

Blizzard bowed low to him.

"_Ten_ points fer Ravenclaw!" Hagrid declared. "_Never_ seen one bow first!"

Fiona Finnigan, for one, was absolutely amazed. Garrett Alcott looked toward the Hufflepuffs. "That just does _not_ happen," He pointed it out.

"I know?!" Rigel wondered in astonishment.

Rhys just kept on walking.

"Well, would yeh look at that?" Hagrid then gasped.

The pumpkin that Rhys had been sitting on was ripened to perfection. The vine had died back to the main one, leaving a perfect stem on the brilliantly orange vegetable.

"Can you imagine the _pies_ we can make from that?" Magnus exclaimed.

"And poison the lot of us?" Adams sneered.

Rigel turned and punched him in the mouth.

"Now you've got help with dish duty, Mag!" Rigel laughed. Adams spit out a front tooth and a fair amount of blood. "Rotten luck, I'll wager?" The Irish boy added with a bright smile. He looked at his hand. "And I didn't even break a knuckle!" He looked thoughtful at that. "So, we making anything spectacular tonight?"

Magnus sighed. He really didn't want to, but it looked like he was going to have to confront the problem sooner rather than later. "Pass the signal," he nodded to Rigel, "And make sure that Garrett tells Rhys. He looked awfully down."_ Maybe we can at least cheer _him_ up, _Magnus thought.

Sure enough, while doing homework that Friday night, Madame Longbottom paid the boys a visit. She informed Rigel that while Madame Pomfrey had been able to restore Aidan Adams' front tooth, she'd also discovered that he had seven cavities and the onset of gingivitis.

"Imagine that," Rigel smirked.

"Imagine dish-and-table duty until Christmas!" Madame Longbottom retorted.

"Yes'mmm," Rigel agreed, trying to not laugh.

He wasn't laughing, though, when his father showed up. Professor Orion Malfoy strode into the dormitory, his black robes billowing around him, and grabbed Rigel by the back of his collar. The boy squeaked in alarm. His haircut Charm failed. Under other circumstances, it might have been funny.

"_Explain_ to me what you think you're doing, young man?" He demanded, lifting him off the floor, "_What_ am I supposed to tell your _mother_? You know your sister, Helene, is just absolutely, insufferably smug about this, don't you? She's already sent an owl!"

"Oh, bugger," Rigel swore.

"And the swearing!" Orion went on. "So help me, Rigel Arthur Malfoy, if you so much as _twitch_ one more magical copper hair without consul-…"

"DAD!" Rigel interrupted him, flicking his eyes at his roommates.

"Right," Orion muttered, calming himself at once. "You and I are not finished with this, young man," he warned him.

"We never _are_," Rigel mumbled.

"And as for tonight, don't get any big ideas, even if it _is_ a weekend!" Orion warned them all, glancing at the pumpkin in the corner. "Headmaster Weasley's already gotten a notice from the Board of Governors that our food budget is up ten percent, mainly in the areas of flour, eggs, and sugar! I wonder _why_?!" He looked at the boys. "They want to know where all the food is going, and the House Elves are facing an inquiry!" His gaze fell upon Magnus. "_Well,_ Gove?"

"I'll pay for it, sir," Magnus shrugged, biting his lower lip in worry. "I'll have Dad send me my own stuff from now on."

"You'll do _no_ such thing! That's why we have a kitchen staff!" Orion retorted. "Students are _not _supposed to do the cooking!"

"But Madame Iceni gave us detentions in here!" Rigel protested.

"Speaking of, what are we having tonight, sir?" Rónán asked.

"Lancashire hotpot," Orion answered, and the boys all cringed.

"I think I'll go out and hunt something down and kill it," Rónán pulled a face.

"No hunting on campus!" Orion informed him. "Just because _you _have a Part-Human advantage doesn't _mean _that you can just use it any old time for your own ben-…" He stopped himself, but too late.

Rigel was looking like he was about to cry.  
Then his face went hard.

"See you at dinner, SIR_,"_ he said flatly, turning his back to him.

Professor Malfoy strode out, but stopped just outside their door. "I mean it, boys! No more pinching Hogwarts stores for your little feasts!"

Then he was gone.

"What do we _do_, Mag?!" Ewan fretted, "We've already had Sonny invite the _Head__**master**_!"

"I didn't think we were doing anything wrong?" Sebastian wondered nervously. "We even invited teachers before!"

"We even fed _him_, the ungrateful eejit!" Rigel snorted. They all just looked at him. "What? Eejit? Git, tosser, wanker…? I could go on and on?"

"Don't talk about your dad that way, Rigel," Magnus said softly, shaking his head. Then he looked up at all of them. "This is nothing we can't work around."

"But where are we going to get the stuff?" Ewan gasped, "If we can't use the school stores?"

"Grimalkin's Grocery, open all night," Rigel offered.

Magnus looked thoughtful. "We've got to do it, as we've already invited the lot of them, _and_ the Headmaster," he mused. "One thing I _can_ do, even if I can't fly, is run." He paused. "But how do I get off the campus?"

"Looks like a job for the Twins!" Rigel grinned. "Pity you'll miss dinner."

"_Is_ it?" Magnus wondered. Then he blinked. "Thought your middle name was 'Ossian', it said in your Mum's Howler?

"It is, I'm lucky enough to have two middle names," Rigel rolled his eyes. "I guess it was quite the pissing contest, naming me, between the two sides of the family."

"Oh," Magnus wondered.

"Ha! Your initials spell out "ROAM"!" Ewan laughed.

"Now you've only got…" – "…one hour to dinner," the Twins advised Magnus. "So make it quick!"

They were all standing just outside the school's loading dock doors, right off the kitchens, which the Twins (of course) knew how to open. The Twins were going over the plan one more time.

"Sneak down behind the rosebushes…"

"Right on down to Hagrid's…"

"Turn right at the big oak at the forest edge…"

"Head on down by the lakeshore…"

"Past the two big boulders that look like b-…"

"Never mind…"

"You'll _know _them when you see them!"

"Then run like hell down the lane to the village!" The concluded.

Magnus and the boys had raked together the last of their spending money. He was dressed in plain clothes, and the Twins then presented him with small bottle of some thick, bubbling ooze that looked like gray mud.

"This will wear off in an hour, too…"

"…so run fast!" They warned him.

"What is it? Smells like Goblin piss!" Rigel sniffed.

"Polyjuice Potion," The Twins smiled, dropping a red hair into it. "Drink up, old boy!"

Magnus did that, choked once, but downed it.

He dropped the bottle as a pain hit him. He thought he might vomit, as it felt like his insides were twisting. Then he saw his hands beginning to shrink. His hair began to grow, and his clothes were suddenly two sizes too big. The Twins held up a small WWW signal mirror. Magnus saw that he looked like some violently ginger little boy.

"AIGH!" Magnus yelped.

The Twins cast a Charm to shrink his clothes down.

"Looks just like ickle Billy!" The Twins crowed in delight. They looked at one another. "Poor devil!"

"But my legs are shorter now!" Magnus/Billy Weasley protested, finding it hard to talk. It sounded like, "But mee wegs err shirtehw noo!"

"Billy's a bit tongue-tied," The Twins laughed. "Should have told you!"

"You two keep a stash of Billy's hair for that?" Rigel looked surprised.

"Yes," they replied, "And you owe us big…" – "…since the gold you paid us came up missing the next day, last time?" They wondered.

"Imagine that," Rigel smirked. "Not my fault that you two can't manage money!"

The Twins just looked at him.

"Save us some…" – "…as we have prior commitments!" They informed the Hufflepuffs.

Magnus/Billy fled, shopping list in his pocket, and a borrowed rucksack with an Expansion Charm strapped to his back.

"Good luck!" Rigel called after him, but that didn't do much to reassure Magnus.

Getting down to Hagrid's was easy enough, as it was getting close to dark. Magnus surprised a couple of older Ravenclaws in the rosebushes, but ran on. Hagrid's hut looked warm and inviting, but he had no time to stop and chat. He didn't know if the clerks in town would know who he was or not, and he soon found that Billy's short little legs weren't nearly as good for running as his own. Billy, he also found, had a small bladder!

Magnus was just zipping up from watering a shrub near Hagrid's when he noticed a shadow move in the window light, but if Hagrid had guests, that wasn't his business. He ran on past the oak tree and turned.

He found the boulders that looked like…what the Twins _hadn't_ said they looked like…but were definitely impossible to miss! "If there's a hole in the Wards, leave it to them to find it!" Magnus thought.

On he ran, puffing his way down the lane. He ran on Billy's short little legs until he reached the village, and it was dark by then. There were streetlights of course, but Magnus was dreading the run back, in the dark, and not being able to risk lighting his wand for fear that he'd be seen.

"What can we do for you, little boy?" The clerk of Graymalkin's asked him as he entered with his list. He looked to be not long out of school, and rather sulky about being on duty on Friday night.

That was when Magnus discovered just how bad Billy Weasley's speech impediment _really_ was.

"Me mum_mee_ whantsh dis 'tuff!" It came out oddly, instead of "My mummy wants this stuff!"

"Merlin's pants!" the clerk gasped. "What's she making?"

"Dinno," Magnus/Billy shrugged, handing him the coin purse. "Tan yoo tount dis owt?"

"Can I count it out? Yes, how cute!" The clerk smiled at him. "Are you a Weasley?"

"Idn't effweewun?" Magnus/Billy smiled back, trying to say, "Isn't everyone?"

The clerk loaded the groceries into Magnus/Billy's rucksack. "Mummy thinks of everything, doesn't she? Expansion Charm! How convenient!" He handed the boy some change back, and it wasn't much. He also gave him a lollipop.

"Tank woo!" Magnus managed, as off he went.

Once out of town, the problems began. It was dark. The last time Magnus had been out in the dark, he'd been attacked by a werewolf! He wished he'd brought Rónán along now, and he realized how sorely he missed his dog, Blackie. But he couldn't light his wand. Someone might see him.

The rucksack was heavy, for Billy Weasley at least. Magnus was puffing again in no time, and Billy's short little legs just hadn't been designed for cross-country running. And it was uphill. In the dark. And it was getting colder out.

There was no moon, and the wind was picking up. Tree branches clicked and clacked, and trunks too close together moaned against one another.

Something howled in the Forbidden Forest.

Billy's little bladder sounded the alarm again.

"Is this kid still in nappies?" Magnus snorted, as he got underway again. But it was just no good. The pack was too much, as was the climb.

"Evenin', Dearie," a lady's voice then asked, and Magnus gasped. There was a lady with a horse-drawn buggy coming up the way. "Needin' a lift, ere we?"

"Yesh! Fank yoo!" Magnus managed in Billy's voice, and she took him as far as the perimeter of the Campus by the Lake.

"Bit young fer Hogwarts, aren't yeh, Boyo?" She asked, but Magnus just smiled at her. There was something about here that put his mind at ease at once. But all too soon, his ride was over and he was on his own again.

"Give 'em me regards!" the lady called after him.

Coming around the Black Lake, something splashed loudly. Magnus' heart, or rather Billy's, pounded in his ears as he ran.

Magnus was about halfway to Hagrid's when he tripped on a rock and twisted an ankle. He went down gasping for air and his leg cramping.

A twig snapped in the forest.

Magnus' hand went for his wand, but then he heard it – a woody, clumping sound that softened as it went from rock to earth.

"Wha's this?" Aries' familiar voice asked. "Hello, little fellow! Are you lost?"

"'epp," Magnus/Billy replied, still puffing. "I'm'a Biwwee!"

"Where are you going, Billy?" Aries asked.

"Hugwartsch," he managed, instead of "Hogwarts." He tried to explain about his ankle, but Aries waved it off. Billy Weasley, Magnus determined, was in desperate need of a speech therapist and tongue-untying surgery.

"Delivery? Yes, I think I get it!" the Centaur colt nodded.

Then, to Magnus' astonishment, he pulled out a wand! "Wingardium LeviOHsah!" He flicked it, and Magnus found himself hovering and then coming down softly on Aries' back! "Just don't tell my father!" He looked fretful, "He'd be very angry! Hold on, Billy, right around my chest, yes!"

And then Aries took off at a run.

Magnus directed him towards the Cellar doors, and he'd just gotten down when he felt the Potion wearing off. And since he was an honest boy, he looked right at the colt. "Ehh-weez, I half too terw yooo…"

"It's all right, I have to go now," Aries smiled at him, pulling his wand. "Wonder no one saw us running up here!" Effl…-" Then he froze in mid-Charm.

Magnus could feel himself growing. His trousers were suddenly too tight, and his feet pinched in tiny little shoes.

The loading bay doors opened.

"Magnus?!" Aries gasped.

"You've got a _wand_!" Magnus gasped too, able to speak clearly again, and overjoyed that his ankle had reset itself.

"Aries!" The Hufflepuffs gasped too.

"Hey, mates," Aries greeted them, as it hit him. "Sneaky!" He congratulated Magnus.

"Th-thanks for the lift?" Magnus offered stupidly, his face feeling hot. He fled to change his clothes.

"He _rode_ you?!" Rigel sounded amazed.

Aries looked around, then down the steps to the kitchen. "Nice!"

"What'r _you_ doing with a wand?" Rigel wondered. "I thought Centaurs used Mysticism, and Elemental Magic, not wands?"

"We made it," Aries sort of coughed.

"You _made_ a wand?" Sebastian asked.

"Wasn't that like…almost impossible?" Rónán asked. "And dangerous?"

"Well, it didn't work the first few times," Aries admitted.

"_Do _tell?" Rigel's eyebrows went up. "Wha's in the core, then?"

"Centaur tail hair, what else?" Aries grinned.

"You wanna see the kitchen?" Ewan asked.

"Oh! I'm not supposed to be up here, much less be _inside_!" Aries gasped. "What would they say?! Father would have apoplexy!"

"Wha's that?" Ewan wondered.

"Fits," Rigel clarified it.

But Aries was, by nature, curious. "The stars are right tonight," he declared, after looking up for a moment, then carefully stepping on down the ramp. "Don't ask me to do stairs," he laughed. "So, you live in here?"

"No, we cook in here," Magnus replied, returning in his pyjamas to unload his stuff.

"No eggs!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"Wait for it," Magnus informed him.

While Magnus was taking inventory, and making up his mind, the boys showed Aries their dormitory. There were several startled gasps from other Hufflepuffs, and Cedric Diggory nearly fell off the wall in shock. But the other students promised not to tell. After all, no one had ever heard of a Centaur coming inside, with the exception of Firenze, who'd taught Divination there over a century before. Aries just nodded and smiled. "He were my grandfather!" He looked all around the Common Room, and was puzzled by the dorm room and beds. "How do you sleep in those?"

"How do _you _sleep?" Ewan wondered.

"Standing up, or curled up on my side," Aries explained.

"You simply must stay for a scoff, old boy," Rigel then said formally, smiling. "We're having our cake, and eating it, too!"

"What _is _a ...cake?" Aries asked.

"Stick around and find out!" Sebastian smiled back.

After chatting with assorted Hufflepuffs all evening, Aries came back out to the kitchen to watch the boys cook. He was fascinated, as he'd never see confectionery before.

"We usually eat the pears and apples and such off the tree. We don't have these oven-things!" He said, clearly impressed. "What'r you wearing?" He added, and the boys had to explain pyjamas.

"So it doesn't bother you, running around starkers all the time?" Ewan asked. They all looked oddly at him. "I just wondered, is all!"

"When was the last time you saw a horse in a jumper?" Aries laughed.

Magnus listened to him as he **clip-clopped** across the stone floor. He raised an eyebrow, smirked, and gathered his ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1-2 oz. red food coloring, 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar, and 1/2 cup of prepared plain hot coffee. Magnus tended to that.

"But the eggs?" Sebastian repeated, just as the Floor erupted and a very old lady came toddling out with a basket.

"GRAN!" Magnus cried, and Hannah Longbottom hardly had time to get the basket out of harm's way before he was on her.

"What's all this? A scoff?" She exclaimed in delight. "I wondered why that Elf showed up begging me to come! I thought you were in trouble, boy!'

"I am, kind of," Magnus confessed. "We can't use the school's food anymore. Tha's why I needed eggs and sent Sonny!"

"And I thought I'd have to wait until Christmas!" Hannah smiled, patting his head. "Who are your friends?" She looked at them all, and gasped when she saw the more obvious Part-Humans. "Will wonders never cease?" She breathed, taking Aries' hand. She then patted Rhys' head, and Rhys went deep red. "You're so cute!"

"I…I am?" Rhys wondered.

"Let's get to it," Magnus then assigned his friends to make two Red Velvet cakes, and then he broke the Magical Seal on the cabinet where Sonny had hidden his groceries.

The oven was preheated to 325F. Erik Bär and Aaron Jordan arrived with Garrett Alcott, the "tower boys" having done a mutual sneak. Lucas Bole and Connor Poynter arrived, having sneaked Aidan Adams a Simple Sleeping Draught at dinner. They all took bowls and divided ingredients between them, whisking together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Then these were set aside as Hannah pulled up a stool to watch.

In larger bowls, they combined the sugar and vegetable oil. Then they mixed in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined. By then, Magnus had the coffee done. They added it and white vinegar.

Next came the tricky part: combining the wet ingredients with the dry ones just a little at a time for the perfectly smooth blend. Rhys turned out to be very good at stirring. They then greased several round cake pans with butter and floured them.

"This is expensive _cake_ flour!" Garrett noted. "Like Mum buys!"

"Tell _me_, we're broke," Rigel sighed, as batter was evenly poured into several pans.

"Three layers?" Hannah asked, and Magnus nodded, trying to keep his other ingredients hidden.

They chatted for about 35 minutes while the cakes baked on the middle racks. Some of the Elves came to take notes, Tweaky in particular, as he felt that he was partly responsible for the boys being in trouble.

When the cakes were done, they were removed to cool by themselves – without magic. Magnus and Rigel carefully removed them from the pans with a butter knife to the edges. Then Magnus pulled his other ingredients.

Rigel's eyes went wide, and he gasped when Magnus returned with the bottle of Guinness.

"_Where _did you get that?" Rigel exclaimed.

Magnus considered replying. "Professor Potter," He explained. "Do you _want _me to make this?"

"Yes," Rigel stated firmly, his hair beginning to darken. "It won't cause any trouble, Mag, I promise," He added mysteriously. "But it makes me wonder that a teacher gave you beer?"

"I think I know _why_, too," Magnus whispered to his friend, so that the others wouldn't hear. "And I don't care, one way or the other."

"Thanks, Mag," Rigel nodded, smiling.

"Lads, the next!" Magnus announced.

They took 8 ounces of butter, at room temperature; 8 ounces soft dark brown sugar, 10 ounces self-raising flour and 1 pinch salt. 2 heaping tablespoons cocoa, which made Rónán cringe. They grated a rind of 1 orange and took 4 large eggs from Hannah's basket. Magnus divided the Guinness into ½ cups.

The oven was put at 375F, and they greased two 9-inch cake pans. They creamed the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, all of them taking turns. They sifted the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa into bowls.

Rigel added the orange rind to the creamed butter and beat in the eggs, one at a time, including a spoonful of the measured flour mixture with each one, and beating well between additions. Ewan mixed in the Guinness, a tablespoonful at a time, including another spoonful of flour with each addition tossed in by Rhys, who was really getting into it.

The mixture was divided between the tins, smoothed down, and put into the center of the preheated oven. The heat was reduced to 350F and they baked for 35 minutes, until the cakes were springy to the touch and shrinking slightly in the pans. They were then turned out and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, all the other boys were making the icing with 4 ounces of butter, 8 ounces of confectioner's sugar and the grated rind and juice of one orange. They all creamed some softened butter and icing sugar together thoroughly, then blended in the grated orange rind and enough juice to make an icing that was soft enough to spread. When the cakes were finally cold, as Magnus _could_ chill _them _with magic, they used half the icing to sandwich them together, and spread the rest on top.

Once it was prepared, Hannah did the honor of icing the cakes while Rigel watched, his eyes green and shining as he sat trembling on a stool.

"Oh, this is perfection, boys," She congratulated them. "You've not lost the touch!" She patted Magnus' head.

The icing for the Red Velvets was simple cream cheese, with extra sugar and no orange. This was a good thing, as Rhys had eaten part of the rinds and was delighted to lick the bowl! Then again, utensil licking wasn't limited to the their Part-Goblin! This batch called for 2 (8 oz) packs cream cheese, softened. 1/4 cup milk, 1 stick butter, softened, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 4 cups powdered sugar.

Some very careful Hover Charms were used to stack the layers as the boys took turns icing them, and in the end, Hannah cut the first slice of each type of cake so that they could marvel at their handy work for a bit.

Daniel and Liam arrived. Liam took pictures.

It was nearing midnight when the delivery doors opened, and Pamona Longbottom, their Head of House, arrived. "MOTHER!" She nearly fainted. "What are you doing here?"

"Scoffing," Hannah replied. "Yourself?" She smiled warmly.

"I was invited?" Pamona wondered, "Now I see why! Boudica mentioned this, but I didn't believe it! You brought eggs?"

"Yes," Hannah smiled.

"Good thing, this lot is already in trouble for pinching food!" Pamona reminded them, as the tapestry door opened.

"My, my!" Headmaster Hugo Weasley breathed, "I could smell this from the ground floor!" Magnus handed him a slice of Red Velvet on a small plate, then began serving smaller slices to the rest of them.

"There's not enough bad stuff in here, for you," He told Rónán. "I checked the book by Mrs. Granger-Weasley. You can eat a bit."

Rónán was thrilled.

Even Rigel tried a slice, and they all found it delightful. Rigel, however, was eyeing the C-O-G cake hungrily.

"This is _amazing_!" Hugo nodded, taking another slice. "Do you have a side of insulin with that?" He laughed, as Sonny and Tweaky snorted.

"Too sweets," they agreed, as they served milk.

Then the Headmaster seemed to notice Aries for the first time, as if a Centaur in the kitchen were a common event. "And how is your father, Colt?" He asked amiably.

"Better, sir, thank you," Aries answered. "This is _really_ good," he nodded to Magnus. "Wish _I _lived here!"

"So do I, son, so do I. If only…" Hugo sighed.

"Sir, why _can't_ Aries attend Hogwarts?" Garrett asked. "He's clearly just as Human as the rest of … _most_ of us?"

Rhys nearly choked on his milk. "I should go," he said.

"Sit down, Goblin-boy," Rigel informed him, "We've still got another cake to eat!" Rigel then began serving it, giving himself a generous slice with trembling hands. Magnus cringed inwardly, but said nothing at all.

Rigel popped a forkful into his mouth and sat down hard on a stool. He leaned back on the counter, and his whole appearance changed as he moaned in pleasure. He took another bite. No one else did; they were too busy watching Rigel eat. It was almost a…sensual…thing to behold!

"And they talk about _my_ manners," Rhys shrugged, with icing all over his face.

Rigel's hair had gone longer and curlier, a much deeper and rich copper color. His freckles reappeared in force, and his eyes were so brightly green that they looked like polished gemstones.

And his ears had sharpened to pronounced points.

"Nephew?" Hugo wondered, cocking his head, "What's happened to you?"

They all looked harder at Rigel.

"YOU'RE A LEPRECHAUN!" Rhys shouted around a mouthful of cake, and there was a soft and muffled BOOM! sound as if something had just broken. A light breeze blew through the room, although there were no windows and the doors were closed.

"_Finally_! Thank Merlin and every bloody, blithering shamrock in the Isles!" Rigel exclaimed, slumping as if a weight had fallen from his shoulders. "Someone _not _Human _and_ magical _finally _said it out loud when they noticed it!"

"You _knew_?" Magnus gasped.

"How could I _not_ know, with Mum's side'o'the family?" Rigel laughed, his accent going into a hard Irish brogue. "I _knew _you knew," he smiled, snapping up another bite and sighing in delight. "_Cac_, this is a _fine _cake! I love you, Mag!"

They all gave him a look.

"What?!" Rigel wondered, his expression dreamy.

"But then why did you have the book on genetics?" Magnus wondered, as the others watched, and ate. "If you knew you had the "L" gene? Why were you so careless with your notes, and let me find it? Why did you let us think you thought you were ill?"

"I was _trying_ to drop hints," Rigel explained. "You see, I _couldn't_ tell you, much as I wanted to! The MacPhersons have a Charm on all of us what carry at least half the genes, so we _can't_ tell, and we have to _deny_ it! Not unless another Part-Human witch or wizard knows and says it out loud, that is! Lucky for me, I've got so many Part-Human friends!"

"Oh, Khaavolaar, I'm sorry!" Rhys gasped, mumbling a few things in Goblin language.

"Not a problem," Rigel smiled at him, getting himself another slice. "Anyone else?" He gestured at the C-O-G cake.

"No, take it," Hugo fumbled, getting himself some more milk. "Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," he mumbled. "This complicates things!"

And so Rigel Malfoy happily had his cake, and ate it, too!

"And all the times you've said 'good luck' or 'lucky'?" Sebastian asked, as they all started in on the second Red Velvet.

"Slip of the tongue, have to be more careful with that," Rigel explained.

"He's a Part-Leprechaun?" Pamona gasped.

"I think we've established that, dear," Hannah smiled. "Isn't he adorable?"

Rigel touched one of his pointed ears. "Guess this is gonna be kinda hard to hide now," He mused. "Oh well!" He smiled at Rhys. "Thanks! Thought they were gonna go mad trying to figure it out!"

"I've never seen a Leprechaun," Aries commented. "Are these biscuits?" He pointed at a tray in the icebox.

"Looks like a learning experience for all," Hugo finally managed a smile. "But boys, we have to keep a lid on this! Can you imagine the controversy if the Board of Governors finds out we've got … such a menagerie this term?"

"They can…'focal leat'," Rigel shrugged, which, if any of them had spoken Irish, they'd have known what Rigel was really saying!

"They're already mad at me for blowing the food budget," Magnus sighed. "I hope you liked it, sir, since this is probably the last time for a long while that we can do this."

"Nonsense," Hannah waved it off. "I can supply eggs, and I'm sure we can come up with flour and sugar somewhere!"

Hugo's eyes were twinkling. "We'll find a way around it!"

Then there came a SWISH! sound, and they all turned to see Harry Potter and Orion Malfoy emerging from beneath the Invisibility Cloak.

Orion was livid, and Harry was looking smug.

"**YOU**!" Magnus glared at him.

"Us," Harry agreed. "Nephew," he said to Hugo. "Hello, Auntie Hannah?"

Hannah nodded, but didn't say a word. It was clear that both she and her daughter were not impressed and had realized something. They all glanced at Rigel, who was sitting there with cream cheese icing on his face and a small mug of the unused Guinness in hand.

"And so the inmates are running the asylum, I see?" Orion started in, glaring at them, "You just _couldn't _keep quiet about it, _could_ you, boy?"

"Erm, 'Rion, did you notice there's a half-a-horse sticking out of the icebox?" Harry cut in.

"I didn't, but thanks! Is that…? You there, _Aries_!" Orion yelled at him. "What the devil are you doing in there?"

"Eating biscuits, sir?" Aries replied innocently, one hand behind his back.

"Well…go home…you'll be sick, and it's midnight!" Harry told him, flicking his wand to open the bay doors. "Regards to your father," he added with a nod.

Aries nodded and left with a large platter. The teachers watched him go. Harry and Orion exchanged a look.

Rigel downed his beer and burped, going for another slice of cake. "Want some, Da'?" he asked happily, as if nothing at all were amiss.

"You lot, go," Orion told the rest of the Scoffers. "We'll deal with _you_ later!" The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins fled.

"You were told not to do this anymore, Gove," Harry told Magnus firmly.

"We bought the stuff with our _own_ money, sir!" Magnus protested. "This isn't school food!"

"And _how_ did you get it?" Orion cut in.

"The Twins!" Rigel told a half-truth. "They can go to the village on Saturday!"

"Oh," Orion conceded. Hugo snickered.

Orion was still fuming, however, and ignored them. "My son, the Leprechaun," he growled. "So now that you _all_ know, since that vile little Goblin broke the Secrecy Charm!"

"Your Charm was leaking, so to say, sir," Rónán piped up. "We all knew it."

"How?" Harry asked.

Rónán and Sebastian pointed at their noses. "Leprechauns smell like cinnamon, sugar, and shamrocks," Rónán explained. Then his golden eyes went wide.

"What?" Harry asked.

"_Nothing_!" Rónán squeaked. "'scuse me! Gotta have a pee!" He then fled.

"And you were _party_ to this madness?" Orion confronted Hugo.

"They invited me for cake," Hugo shrugged. "What's an old Weasley to do?"

"Uncle," Orion sighed, sitting down on the edge of the prep table. "I can't believe this! You _know_ what's going to happen now! You know this is going to get _ugly_! Rigel could be expelled! Hell, it could start a war!"

"Good luck with _that_," Rigel snorted in sarcasm. "Not bloody likely!"

"Don't _use_ that phrase!" Orion gasped.

"Oh, it _won't_ start a war," Hannah disagreed. "All that was settled a thousand years ago!"

"Was it?" A lilting female voice asked, as a shimmering distortion formed near the doorway.

Out of the distortion stepped a beautiful lady. She was not much taller than a Firstie, and her hair matched Rigel's. Her eyes were green, and she moved with grace that was mesmerizing. She wore a gown of palest green and many emeralds, and her heels clicked on the floor as she approached Rigel. She paused, taking in the sight of the barefoot boy in black and yellow pyjamas with icing on his face.

"You!" Magnus gasped, recognizing the lady who had given him a ride. "You sent your regards!"

"Hello, Magnus," She smiled at him. "I see you've made a cake?"

Rigel handed her the last slice. "Hi, Mummy!" He smiled happily.

"Don't you 'hi mummy' me, my Little Prince!" She scolded him, but she _did_ take the cake, smiling.

"Evening, Darling," Orion mumbled.

"Have some cake," Niamh Malfoy offered him a bite.

"Now you've done it," Harry whispered to Magnus.

"_Have_ I, now?" Magnus glared at him.

Notes:

More on Goblin language. No, I don't like how JKR handled _them_ either. There's a lot of Goblin lore out there that she ignored.  . ?title=Goblin_Language

Yes, Rigel's full name is Rigel Ossian Arthur Malfoy. R.O.A.M. Neat, huh?


	12. Chapter 12-Humanity

**12-Humanity**

Mild language warning, perhaps PG-13 on prejudice theme.

"I think we're in trouble," Ewan mumbled, sitting on his bed in his pyjamas that next Saturday morning. It was quite late in the morning, and the boys had slept through breakfast yet again. The plump boy was biting his nails, and he was looking very worried about something. "Mum'n'dad aren't going to like this, no, not _one _bit. I'm going to get a Howler when they find out, I _know _I am! They're still not over the whole Hufflepuff thing, either! _Damn,_ Rigel! Why'd you have to go and tell?" Then his eyes went wider and he pulled back a little. "I'm sorry! _Please_ don't turn me into anything unnatural!"

Rigel rolled his brilliantly green eyes and ran a hand through his rich coppery hair, which was now fluffed out in all directions and well down over his pointed ears. It was a strong contrast to the slightly sickly and weak ginger tint he'd had when he'd met his friends a few weeks before. "And so it begins," Rigel shook his head. "_Now_ do you understand why Mum and the 'little people' side of the family put the Charm on us so we can't tell?"

Ewan flinched so badly when Rigel looked right at him that he fell off of the other side of his bed with a muffled squeak.

"Ewan, what _are_ you on about?" Magnus had to ask. "So Rigel's a Part-Leprechaun? Big deal! I don't see why everyone's so upset about it?"

"Feelin' left out, mate?" Rónán grinned at him, his canine teeth sharp and his eyes golden. Rónán also had wolf ears again, whether he realized it or not.

"What's one more of us?" Sebastian added, his eyes glittering black.

"Now _I'm_ the only human in here," Ewan sighed again, peeking up over the edge of the bed.

One of Rigel's violently copper eyebrows went up. "Are you related to the old Scotts in Kent?" He asked.

"Yes, why?" Ewan answered, picking himself up off the floor.

"So you're a Pureblood-Scott, then? An old wizarding family, like the Blacks?" Rigel added.

Ewan nodded.

"Well, _that_ makes you a Non-Human in _my_ book," Rigel sniffed. "Wonder you didn't end up in Slytherin!" He pondered it for a second. "Or in a zoo, rare as you 'pure'-Purebloods are these days."

"Tha's part of why mum'n'dad are so upset," Ewan confessed. He looked at them all nervously. "Merlin, if they find out that I live with a proto-werewolf, a real one, a Veela, and a Leprechaun, they'll pull me out of here and send me to Beauxbatons! Or Durmstrang! I can't _speak _French! I don't _like _the cold! What'll I _**do**_?!"

"Am I going to have to slap you?" Sebastian joked, which snapped Ewan right out of it.

"YOU? In _Slytherin_?" Rónán laughed. "I can't see it!"

"Guess the Hat couldn't either," Ewan muttered. "But I…I w-wanted to stay with you guys, after the train ride!"

"Do you still want to, then?" Magnus then looked at Rigel. "You chose Hufflepuff, too," he reminded them all. Rigel nodded back. "Is this why you didn't really ever have any friends?" Magnus added, "Because of what you are?"

Rigel nodded again. For a while, he didn't say anything.

"They didn't want to risk it, despite the Concealment Charms, outside of your family?" Sebastian wondered. Again, the nod. "I know the feeling," the Part-Veela agreed.

Rigel then looked at Ewan. "I _wanted _you all to know so bad," he shook his head, "But I guess I should have kept my big mouth shut." He got up. "I'll go and see if I can stay in Dad's apartment until something can be arranged," Rigel said.

"Oh _sit_ down!" Rónán snorted. "No one _wants_ you to leave!" He looked at Ewan. "_Do_ we?"

"No, I guess not," Ewan admitted, "It's silly…but…Rigel, I…I'm kind of scared of you now," he added. "Honestly!"

"Thanks for being honest, Ewan," Rigel smiled wanly at him. "But if I've got any new superpowers, I don't know what they are yet."

Rónán came over and gave Rigel a sniff. Then he poked him in the back of the head.

"OW! What was _that _for?" Rigel shouted.

"Same ol'Rigel," Rónán declared. "Smells a bit more…grainy…though?"

"Looks the same, almost, better actually," Sebastian agreed, leaning in for a closer look as his dark eyes enlarged. He closed one, carefully studying Rigel with his avian vision.

Magnus reached over and grabbed Rigel's pointed ear.

"OW! What's _wrong _with you nutters?" Rigel demanded.

"See, we're all still here," Rónán told Ewan. "He didn't vaporize a one of us."

"Oh," Ewan mumbled, his face going pink.

"_We_ don't want him to leave," Magnus supplied, "But I know someone who _does_," he added, and he regretted bringing it up at once. _Gove, you_ _idiot!_ He thought.

"Who?" Rigel wondered. "_Leave_? You mean, like, kicked out? _Expelled_?!"

"Professor Potter," Magnus huffed, nodding. "We talked the other night," _And I know he's not really THE Harry Potter, that he's a Slytherin named 'Henry' that Harry adopted, but the world thinks he's really Harry Potter because they think the world will blow up or something if they don't have one, and he doesn't like Leprechauns…_Magnus thought to himself, but he certainly didn't say it aloud! After all, he was an honest boy, and he was their Secret Keeper. "Rather, I shouted, and he listened."

"You _shouted _at a teacher?!" Ewan gasped.

"Oh," Rigel sighed. "Yeah. I suppose they must believe all that folktale shite about Leprechauns."

Then something came to Magnus.

"What?" Rigel asked, cocking his head so that one of his ears showed. Rónán smiled. "Wha's that look all about, Mag?"

"I don't think we're going to have any trouble out of _him_," Magnus smiled, and if Rigel's Great-grandfather Draco had seen it, he would have been jealous of the look.

"You got dirt?" Rigel asked anxiously.

"A whole truckload," Magnus nodded, but it was clear that he wasn't going to share it.

"You lot are getting all worked up over nothing, so far," Sebastian cut in.

They all looked at him. Rónán blinked.

"Because only Headmaster Weasley, Professor Potter, and your dad know!" Rónán declared, "And I mean, your Dad _had_ to know, right? Oh, and Mag's Gran Hannah, and Madame Longbottom."

"And the Scoffers," Sebastian added. "But I don't think they'll tell."

"It _was _sort of obvious to Dad, yeah," Rigel agreed with a smirk. "Mum's a bit hard to miss, I'm sure you saw?"

"So is Helene or your little brother a Leprechaun, too?" Magnus asked.

"No," Rigel shook his head. "Aldebaran was tested by Grandfather MacPherson; he's got the typical human XY genome. Helene's got the female XX type, so they're both genetically full humans."

"The note you dropped for me to find," Magnus nodded. "You were studying magical genetics, though?"

"Yeah," Rigel answered.

"Why?" Ewan wondered.

"Because I needed to _know_, for sure, and I wanted _someone _to find out," Rigel informed them. "All my life, I've been sheltered. I never had any real friends, no school activities, no one over to our house; I never got to spend the night with anyone outside the family. It was always like, something about me repelled the other children. Like Adams and Poynter in primary, being so mean to me," he went on. "And sometimes I'd do strange things, I mean, like beyond ordinary childhood magical slip-ups. Then there was the haircut thing, doing the Charm every single day, so I'd have short hair and round ears. And I hate it! It makes me look ill. That, and I'm so bloody short! Hell, I'm the tiniest Firstie here. And my grandparents? Honestly! How stupid do they _think_ I am? You can't _miss_ the MacPhersons! Really, Leprechauns? It was like, I _knew_ what I was, but I just didn't _think_ about it? Does that make any sense?"

"Yes, it's like me being a Muggleborn. I never thought about it before. I didn't know I was a wizard, and I didn't think about it – even when I was seeing all this odd stuff happening the village back home that no one else could see. I was just…_me_! But here I am now! Yet I'm still the same old Magnus," Magnus agreed. "It's like, I really _was_ a wizard, but just didn't realize it. Just like you didn't _think _about being a Leprechaun, because it's part of who you _are_."

"Good, I thought I was insane," Rigel sighed in relief.

"Or they _wanted_ you to think that way," Sebastian added, "So you'd not slip up."

"And you always had the tastes for that folklore-type Leprechaun food?" Magnus smiled at him, "That's why you wanted me to bake that cake?"

"Oh, _yes_!" Rigel breathed, "_Merlin_, that thing was heavenly!" Then he turned serious again.

"You mean they never really _told _you?" Ewan gasped.

"No, not _exactly_, it's like I said," Rigel replied, "It's not like we ever sat down to talk about the birds and the bees and the Leprechauns," he sniffed. "All I knew was about Wizards and Muggles, but that our family was special – even for Wizards. Then, when Dad quit being an Auror and came here to teach, I just _knew_ it. He followed me here to make sure I didn't blow it." He sighed again. "But why would they want to expel me _now_? I haven't done anything wrong?"

Magnus wanted to say something, but once again, he found himself in that all-too-familiar situation of being faced with doing what was right and doing what was easy. It would be easy to tell Rigel that he had an ironclad way of keeping Professor Potter from having him expelled, but it would also be breaking his word to his teacher – the wrong thing to do. Never mind about blowing the Harry Potter-secret identity thing. And should he tell Rigel what Professor Potter had actually _said _about how he himself felt about Leprechauns?

"But you _knew_ your family were Leprechauns?" Ewan persisted, seeming fascinated.

"Yes, looking back, you can't _not _know when you meet Grandfather Mac," Rigel agreed, "But now, now that I'm sure…I…I always thought I was more Weasley than Malfoy because of the way I looked. I thought it was the Weasley genes, like the Twins said, and not because me mam was a Leprechaun." He put his head down on his desk, rumpling some notes he'd left out. "The sad part is, I'm not a Weasley at _all,"_ Rigel concluded. "According to the charts I made from the book. Not with an 'L-Y' genetic makeup – or so Dad's medical reports on us said."

"You pinched your dad's files from when you were tested?" Magnus gasped.

Rigel nodded. "I _am_ a Malfoy, after all," he grinned, but it wasn't a happy grin.

"What's all this X and Y and L stuff you're on about?" Ewan asked, and Rigel pulled out his own notes from his studies to explain it.

"Everyone has two sex chromosomes," he said, "Girls are XX, and boys are XY. The 'Y' comes from your dad, and it's what makes you a boy. The X comes from your mum, since women only have X chromosomes. Or so the bloody book says, hell I don't _know_! When a baby is formed, the mum donates one of her X's, and the dad donates an X _or_ a Y. Well, with Mum being a woman, you know, she had only one L-for-Leprechaun-gene, which is really an X-gene, but since she's only half, too, her other gene is a human-X. My _luck, __**I**_got the Leprechaun L-gene, and it's what the book calls a 'dominant gene'."

"So who's your human grandparent, if your mum is only half?" Magnus asked.

"Gran MacPherson," Rigel answered, rolling his eyes. "I guess Grandfather must have been a real charmer back in the day. That, or it was his pot'o'gold," he sniffed.

"You mean you don't _want_ to be a Leprechaun now?" Rónán wondered.

"Do _**you**_ _want _to be a werewolf?" Rigel countered.

Rónán shrugged. "I don't know any different, I was born this way."

"You're very quiet?" Magnus asked Sebastian.

"I thought being a Veela was really cool, until last month," the French boy admitted.

"When you saved my fat arse," Ewan nodded. "I'm sorry, Sebastian."

"It's not that, it's the things they say when they _think_ you can't hear them," Sebastian explained, "All Part-Humans, I think, have really better senses than humans. Some of it kinda hurts, though, like 'freak' or 'non-human'."

"Don't pay any attention to Adams," Rigel snorted. "Git that he is!"

"It's not _just_ him," Sebastian sighed. "Even some of the girls are half scared of me now. I used to like the attention, but now…you notice that Fiona Finnigan is about the only one who still talks to us?"

"But it's not like Veelas are mean, are they?" Ewan asked, "Not like werewolves are when…" He paused. "Sorry," he apologized to Rónán.

"No offense, mate," Rónán shook his head, "We used to be _very_ dangerous, until Teddy Lupin found the cure for the insanity." He thought for a moment. "You know, I wonder if Erik and Rhys and them are having the same problems?"

"Well, they're not on dish duty," Rigel disagreed.

"Or banned from cooking," Magnus lamented, which, for a Gove, was a very serious thing!

"Are Selkies dangerous?" Ewan asked.

"No," Rigel answered, "Unless you're a fish." He pulled a face. "And everyone thinks Sprites are cool, so Lucas is prob'ly fine."

"Rhys is having a hard time, though," Magnus reminded them.

"Rigel, I'm sorry, for what I said," Ewan apologized. "It's just that…"

"Just don't believe everything you hear about _us_ Wee Folk," Rigel sighed. "Felt good to finally say that," he added. "I just don't know if I should keep trying to hide it or not."

"With Ewan's reaction?" Sebastian replied with a question, "You probably _should _hide it. Who knows what everybody else will think?"

"True," Rigel admitted. "They'll all be out to capture me and think I'll grant them three wishes to let me go."

"You can grant wishes?" Ewan wondered.

"No, that's Genies," Magnus corrected him.

"Oh."

"And don't worry about Professor Potter," Magnus added, sorry he'd even mentioned it to begin with. "He's your uncle, after all!"

"Yes, but it also puts Uncle Hugo in a bit of a spot," Rigel added. "Now I know why they said Great-Gran Hermione almost had fits when Dad finally proposed to Mum. She was always into Magical Law, you know, and I bet she knew. Now Uncle Hugo could be in trouble if they find out he knows and hid it…hid _me_. The Ministry doesn't like Leprechauns too well, I don't think."

"Why?" Ewan asked, which seemed to be his signature line.

"Well, how many of _us_ do you see in the Magical Community?" Rigel asked. "Or like, Centaurs, or Vampires? You ever seen a Part-Human teacher? I think Professor Binns said Hogwarts has had like two? _Ever_? And both of them had to quit. You think anyone on the Wizengamot isn't all-Human? Hell, Rónán's lot's even had its own private school and its own island for like a hundred years or more! It's even a big deal that Aries' dad lets him talk to us."

Magnus nodded. "I've noticed," he agreed, remembering his row with Professor Potter (Henry), "They don't seem to like Muggleborns _or _Part-Humans, I don't think. I don't think they like much of _any_body." He sighed, too. "And I guess I'm both, now."

"You're right," Ewan agreed sadly. "Tha's why I'm worried about what mum'n'dad will think now. It's like with Aries," he added, "He comes to COMC class, but he can't go to school here with us. Why _is _that, when he's obviously got magic, and he wants to come?"

"Yeah, they threw him out of the kitchen last night, remember?" Sebastian commented.

"Centaurs are 'creatures of near-human intelligence', my dad says," Rigel explained, "I didn't understand it, so I asked Hagrid about it once. I guess about a hundred years ago, some Ministry Witch made them so mad with that line that they didn't even speak to humans until just a few years ago."

Magnus found himself growing angry again. "Did you know they have us on a list?" He informed them. "Professor Potter told me."

"A _list_? For _what_?!" Sebastian gasped.

"Think about it, mate. Two ex-Aurors teaching here now? One of them being me Da'?" Rigel's accent strengthened again, "And one for **DADA **class, which has a big unit on Magical Creatures? They're _watching_ us," Rigel theorized.

"It's like they're on our arses all the time, for nothing," Ewan nodded. "I mean, what do we _do_? Stay in our room, then, so we don't get in trouble?"

Sebastian nodded. "If it _is_ true, they're watching every little thing we do!"

"But _why_?" Rónán looked hurt. "I never hurt anybody!"

"Tell that to that deer you ate last month," Rigel smiled at him.

"But…but…Teddy Potter came to _take_ me out!" Rónán countered.

"Which he had to clear it with Professor Potter, and _he's_ an Auror, too," Magnus reminded him. "And you've been banned from hunting on campus, remember?"

Rónán blinked, and his jaw dropped.

"And it was Hagrid who did my wing therapy," Sebastian added. "And the way he looked over us, and Rhys when he came? And Erik? Don't _we _get the same medical care as the human kids here?"

Magnus thought about Rhys, and the ointment for scars that Hagrid had given him.

"No, we don't, at least Rhys didn't," Magnus decided to say it, "St. Mungo's didn't do anything for his Dragonpox scars, but Hagrid knew how to heal them. Remember? He couldn't believe they discharged Rhys with scars and no treatment for them, remember how upset he was when he left?"

"No wonder the kid wanted plastic surgery," Ewan sniffled. "I feel just awful."

"Why?" they all asked.

"Because _I'm_ the human," Ewan replied, looking down at his badly bitten nails.

"Ewan," Rigel rolled his eyes, snickering, "Relax! Your mum and dad can't know about us, unless you've told them, right? You _didn't,_ did you?"

"Well, erm, no," Ewan mumbled. "But there's still this Hufflepuff thing, you know."

"They'll get over it," Rigel shrugged. "Mum seemed to take it pretty well last night. Then again, we _did_ have cake, too. You want to get on a Leprechaun's good side, feed her lots of rich Irish desserts and alcohol!" He advised with a smile. "She _loves_ you, Mag!"

Magnus blushed.

"Where'd she go anyway?" Sebastian asked. "And how'd she even get in?"

"There's a hole in the perimeter," Magnus informed them. "The Twins found it a while back. I used it to go grocery shopping! Mrs. Malfoy gave me a ride back!"

"We stayed up late, talking, and she left after you lot went to bed," Rigel answered. "She's not all _that _mad anymore, maybe a wee bit, but Grandfather MacPherson wants to write me out of the will, she said," Rigel added with a chortle. Then he sighed yet again. "Damn, I miss her already."

"So why do Leprechauns hate Hufflepuff so much?" Rónán asked, trying to change the subject.

"I have _no_ idea, probably something the Founders did to them," Rigel guessed. "I mean, who knows what _they_ got up to back then? But it _would_ explain why everyone thinks this House is a load of duffers, and why we almost never win a House or Quidditch Cup. Maybe the Leprechauns put a Curse on the House?"

"So what are we going to do today?" Ewan asked, wanting to change the subject.

"We could sit here and complain some more," Rónán put in.

"Visit Hagrid?" Rigel offered.

"Make biscuits?" Sebastian asked.

"Watch them pick the Quidditch teams?" Ewan added.

"Pass!" Magnus shook his head. Then his jaw dropped. "Aries!"

"What?" Sebastian asked. "You wanna go see Aries?"

"No! I just remembered! Last night, when I got back from the village, Aries had a wand! And he cast a Disillusion Charm! _Where_ did he get a wand?" Magnus remembered.

"Centaurs don't _use _wands!" Rigel looked gobsmacked. "In fact, it's like with House Elfs or Goblins! They aren't allowed! If he walked into Ollivander's with a sack of gold to buy one, he'd be arrested!"

"Where did he learn the Charm?" Sebastian wondered. "That's a late Second Year thing, the Twins said?"

"He said 'they' made the wand!" Magnus snapped his fingers, and this time, it was as if a light _had_ come on over his head.

"How do you _make_ a wand, anyhow?" Ewan asked.

"Library!" They all said at once, their eleven-year-old attention spans shifting at once from Rigel to Aries.

"Right after lunch," Magnus cut in.

"The House Elves didn't make this," Madame Iceni happily observed of lunch, which consisted of various sandwiches (a rather familiar grilled cheese among them), seasoned chips with assorted dipping sauces, and some rather firm and flavorful dill pickles.

"_They're_ in the kitchen again!" Orion Malfoy snorted, "I just _know_ it!'

"So what if they are?" Harry Potter retorted. "It's not like they're stealing Hogwarts stores?"

"_Someone_ has to make lunch," Headmaster Hugo Weasley pointed out. "It might as well be them, and if they're down there," He pointed at the floor, "Then they're not out making mischief."

"They've been told to stay out of the Elves' way!" Orion snapped. "What do we pay them for, anyway?"

"The Hufflepuffs are free labor," Hugo pointed out. "And better cooks."

"Oh, leave them alone, Malfoy," Madame Longbottom snapped. "It's not like they're doing anything wrong right _now_!"

"Rigel should be on the Pitch," Orion replied. "That's all he talked about before school started! Quidditch-this-and-Quidditch-that." Then he paused.

"You think there might be an unfair advantage there, 'Rion?" Harry provoked him, knowing that Orion couldn't reply to that without blowing his son's limited cover.

"He _is _a very good flyer, for a Firstie," Professor Jones put in. "Been a busy morning so far, and I'd hate to see him just give up. Did you see the way he flew that hurt boy up to the Castle in that first day's lesson?"

"How could anyone miss it?" Orion snapped at him.

Those "in the know" about Rigel's true heritage just looked at him.

"He was awfully lucky with the suicide move that he pulled with the Slytherin boy a few weeks ago," Professor Wood pointed out. "I was most impressed. I was hoping he'd at least go out for the B-Team."

"No one cares about the B-Team," Orion snorted.

"_We_ do?" Wood and Jones both offered.

About then, Professor Potter's unfinished plate vanished.

"I think I'm being paged," Harry observed, "Excuse me."

As he left the Great Hall, he noticed that the end of the Hufflepuff table, where "the usual suspects" always sat, was deserted. He did, however, notice that their Human friends were all at their usual House tables amongst the scattering of many hopeful students clad in Quidditch robes from tryouts.

He arrived in the kitchen to find them hard at work at keeping lunch coming. _What do they call themselves? The Scoffers? _Harry wondered. They were all still in pyjamas, and Harry noticed one Part-Human face missing: Lucas Bole. Rhys Geary, their resident Goblinoid, looked as if he'd gone a round with a ketchup bottle and lost. He sniffed, smelled sardines, and noticed Garrett Alcott.

"You rang?" Harry asked Magnus, as a plate full of sandwiches vanished in a blur of blue light as it headed towards the ceiling.

"Yes, sir," Magnus replied in a chilly tone. "I think we need to talk."

The others just looked at him. Rhys dropped his pickle.

"I see you sent out private lunch invitations," Harry pointed out. Then he looked at Rigel. "Don't tell me you didn't see this coming, boy? After that cake stunt last night?" He then turned back to Magnus. "And _you_? Checking out that Leprechaun book, and making a dessert that you knew would expose your friend's secret?"

"_You_ got me the Guinness!" Magnus retorted. "You wanted me to make it, so I'd expose him when you _couldn't_!"

"_What_?!" Rigel squeaked. "You _wanted_ to expose me?"

Harry blinked. "Well, I thought you were…I wanted to be sure, and…yes, _all right_! I gave you the Guinness!"

The boys all looked at him, puzzled.

"Tha's illegal, you know?" Magnus replied.

"I never thought about _that,"_ Harry shook his head. "But what _I_ want to know is how Niamh got in here last night? Orion said he didn't invite her, what with his attitude on homesickness."

"You can get in if you know where the hole in the perimeter is," Magnus pointed out.

"Fabian and Gideon Weasley, I'll wager?" Harry snorted. "I should have known! Knowing them, they could have a whole case of ale up there and no one would know it!" He paused, grabbing back his interrupted lunch. "So what do you want, boys?"

"We want to know if you're going to have Rigel expelled, like you said the other night?" Magnus stated flatly.

"You _told_ him that?" Harry almost choked on his sandwich.

"You want to expose me, _and_ expel me?" Rigel gasped.

"After the way you talked the other night, sir? _Yes,_ I let it slip," Magnus replied, "and I _wish_ I hadn't, but I did because I don't think it would be _right_ for Rigel to just find himself sitting on his trunk at the curb trying to hitch a ride home one morning! And putting us on lists? Watching every little thing we do? God's sake, man, you're our _teacher_! I expected better! I expected better…from _you_, sir!" He declared brazenly.

Rigel was staring open-mouthed at the man he'd known as his Uncle Harry for all of his life. His face was a bit red, and his lip was quivering. "So…so it's true?" Rigel said in a very small voice. "Y-you wanna ch-chuck me out?"

"Rigel, I didn't _mean_…" Harry was glaring at Magnus.

"Uncle," Rigel cut in, "If you've got a problem with me, I really _need_ to know. I'm not _stupid_, either. I _know_ why you and Da took these jobs," He accused his "uncle" and teacher.

"Rigel, in all honesty, I had no idea that you were a Leprechaun," Harry offered. "I'll admit, I sort of _thought _your mum was a Leprechaun, or Part, and with your looks, I _did _suspect that you might be half, but with the Weasley genes and the odds being against it…"

"But I'm _not _a Weasley, not at all, according to the book I read," Rigel interrupted, hanging his head. "I don't share _any_ genes with them. Wait a minute!" He ran back to their dorm and returned with his family tree chart, complete with X, Y, and L chromosomes marked in different colors. "I'm a Malfoy/MacPherson, see?"

"Nice chart," Harry had to agree. "You've mapped it all out. And you're right. The matriarchal Weasley genes, actually the Prewitt genes, stopped with Orion, and…"

Then Rigel looked up at Harry with an expression that cut his reply short. "I wanted my friends to know, sir," Rigel went on. "It wasn't right for me to hide, when all the other Part-Human kids are known." He nodded at Rhys. "It's not fair to them. I didn't want it to cause trouble, but it did. Ewan's half scared of me now, and our human friends…"

"Are all busy," Harry cut him off. "Quidditch teams are picked tonight, and Jordan and Poynter are busting their little arses trying to make at least B-sub-positions," Harry informed him. "And Professor Jones is wondering why _you_ seem to have quit all of a sudden? They were looking forward to seeing you."

"I…I don't know if I should try to hide it anymore," Rigel admitted. Rigel wiped his face on his sleeve. "I'm tired of hiding behind Concealment Charms, Uncle! I hate the way I look when they're on me, and they make my ears hurt."

"Ouch," Rhys mumbled, rubbing at one of his own long ears.

"That's a bad thing, it is," Sonny agreed, as more and more dishes began coming back down, signifying that lunch was almost over.

"So I have to know, sir," Rigel concluded, "If you want me out of here, or what I should do?"

"Durmstrang ist very nice," Erik Bär offered, nodding. "You kann have my old bed!"

"You're _not_ helping, Bear-boy," Rónán cut in.

"Rigel, I'll be honest with you," Harry replied, "Leprechauns, even Part-Leprechauns, can be very dangerous folks to have around. You've already slipped a few times, I know. All you have to do is use the word 'luck' in a sentence, and it could unleash Leprechaun magic that you don't intend to use. That's a different form of magic than Human Magic channeled through a wand, and it's different from House Elf Magic. It's also different from Goblin Magic," He looked at Rhys, "But it's more powerful than the other forms. Just about any human who's had dealings with Leprechauns has come out on the short end of it, and that's why there's a lot of animosity between the two…species."

"Just like mine," Rhys mumbled, trying to clean the ketchup off his shirt and only making it worse. "My grandparents and uncles and aunts all hate each other. And me."

"True, Rhys, sadly," Harry agreed, "But no one here is worried about _you_. You'll be taken care of, I promise." He turned back to Rigel. "Actually, Leprechauns are the ultimate Slytherins, if you think about it. They're lucky, by nature. They're all about self-preservation, secrets, family, and very ambitious when they want something. But they also have a lot of unfair advantages."

"Like what, sir?" Sebastian wondered.

Harry sat down at the worktable, careful not to interrupt the Elves, who were cleaning up and already arguing about what to make for dinner. "Well, the luck thing, and ease of the use of their magic, for two. Like the other day when Rigel dared Adams to fly at the wall – and he broke his broomstick doing it. He was lucky." Harry explained. "They're also," he paused. "Rigel, do you know how old your Grandfather MacPherson is?"

Rigel shook his head. Magnus glared at Harry. Harry caught it.

"They obviously haven't told him, sir," Magnus offered. "But _I _read the book."

"I guess I need to read it, too," Rigel sighed. "I know he's _pretty_ old. He must be like a hundred, or older than Mag's Gran?"

"How old is 'old', boys?" Harry had to ask.

"Thirty? Forty?" They all guessed.

"Try _three_ or four _hundred_," Harry admitted, and Rigel's jaw dropped. "Leprechauns are practically immortal. They really didn't tell you _anything_?" He then handed Rigel a rolling pin. "Break that," Harry ordered him.

The boys all gasped.

"**What**?!" Rigel exclaimed. "Are you _mad_, Uncle?"

"Just focus on it, think about the fact that you're a Leprechaun, and break it," Harry ordered him.

Rigel grasped the rolling pin, concentrated on it, smirked in disbelief, and then jerked his arms.

The rolling pin snapped.

"Scheiße!" Erik Bär swore.

Several Elves who'd been watching fainted.

So did Ewan.

Rigel looked like a goldfish gasping for oxygen in old water, trying to find his voice again.

"The rest of it," Harry concluded, "Is up to your parents to tell you. I've done too much already," he palmed his face. "If you'd known this the other day, when you punched Aidan Adams, as angry as you were, you could have easily torn his head clean off! Now do you see why your coming out as a Leprechaun is such a big thing? _Now_ do you see why they had the Concealment Charms, didn't tell you everything, and why…even I…have these uneasy feelings about … your kind?"

Rigel said nothing at all.

He simply put his head down and started to cry.

"Rigel?" Harry offered.

"Just _go_, Uncle," Rigel whimpered.

And so Saturday passed with one of those _**I should have just stayed in bed **_days – which actually happened in Hufflepuff House that day. Marjorie MacMillan was even at a loss as to what to do, but in the end, she decided that it was best to just leave them all alone. On the Quidditch Pitch, Wood and Jones held off and waited for Rigel as long as they could. Finally, they started their finals without him after Aaron Jordan returned to tell them that the Hufflepuffs weren't coming out of their cellar. Harry's statement had upset Rigel badly, and derailed their plans for the day.

"I'd stay here too, if it was me," Rhys commented, after several hours of half-hearted homework. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the farthest, darkest corner, looking quite pleased at having been invited.

"We were going to go to the library," Ewan reminded them, after a few hours.

"No one cares about missing books, or how to make a wand anymore," Rigel sighed. He'd been doing a lot of that all afternoon.

"Well _I_ want my Charms book back," Rónán disagreed. "This old library copy is all marked up."

Magnus looked up from his DADA text. Harry had assigned him three rolls of parchment for cutting class, and the boy was almost done with it.

"I would think," Garrett Alcott put in, "That whoever stole the books is someone who wants to _learn_ magic. Why else steal a Firstie's book? I mean, everyone knows that stuff already – but for us."

"Someone who can easily get into the school, too," Sebastian nodded.

Magnus sniffed. "Are they making dinner already?" The smells distracted him.

"We've been moping around in here all day. I feel like I'm in a kennel," Rónán complained. "Think we should go help?"

"Yeah, so you can be expelled right along with me?" Rigel mumbled.

"Don't say that," Rhys offered in his halting speech, his yellow eyes shining in the corner.

"My own uncle," Rigel sighed again, "Who'd have thought?"

"You will like it at Durmstrang," Erik reminded him. They all rolled their eyes at him. "Was denn?! Ist very nicer than zimm-rooms here!"

"I smell meat," Magnus shook his head again, rolling up his completed DADA scroll. "And fruit?"

"Wolf-nose finally kicking in?" Rónán wondered.

Magnus sniffed again. He smelled lard and flour.

"I _can't _stand it!" Magnus declared. "Rigel, _get_ up! We need all the luck we can get right now!"

"Oh, going to exploit your captured Leprechaun, now, are you?" Rigel tried to joke. If his eyes hadn't been so puffy and red, the Malfoy wit and sarcasm might have been funny.

"No, you're going to make pie crusts with me," Magnus informed him. "Take your mind off of it all. Sweet fruit, sugar, flaky crusts dusted in confectioner's sugar, with whipped sweet cream to top it…" he enticed them.

And so, _still_ in their pyjamas and slippers from that morning, the Scoffers minus a few took over the kitchen to make dinner.

"Equal parts of lard and butter, with a part of flour equal to that," Magnus ordered them all. "Work with it, then sprinkle ice water to bind it," he added, bringing out his stash of pilfered Conference pears and feral apples.

"Oh, oh, oh, this is over budgets," Tweaky fretted, "Too much lards!"

"The wild fruit will balance it out, it was free," Magnus informed him.

"I can pinch a nice fat cow next time the moon's out?" Rónán offered, as Magnus passed a hand over all of their balls of dough, chilling them so that they could be rolled out.

"What goes gooder with the stack'n'kiddyknee pies fer a side curse?" Sonny asked, having gotten all the meat chopped and ready for the main course.

"That's 'steak and kid-_nee_' pies," Ewan shuddered, "And you guys _would_ make it a 'curse', not a 'course'!"

"I want a hot, thick stew," Magnus decided. "Dad makes a great vegetable stew so thick you have to use a fork to eat it."

"Flour budgets," Tweaky reminded them.

"We'll cut back and have flat bread," Magnus decided, watching in amusement as Rhys tried to roll out his dough. "They can expel us all together, then! But at least we'll be well fed!"

The ensuing frenzy of chopping assorted vegetables and putting together crusts for their many pies at least took the boys' minds off their problems. While their main course meat pies were baking, and their vegetable stew simmering, they turned their attention to the fruit pies.

As they were getting the pears and apples mixed and spiced, the tapestry opened.

"You can smell this all the way up in Hospital!" Lucas Bole gasped, barefoot and still dressed in Hospital whites, looking as if he'd just escaped. "What are you making?"

"One last great feast before I head off to Durmstrang," Rigel flung out his arms dramatically, flinging a dollop of dough at Garrett. "Where have _you_ been?"

"Watch it, now!" Garrett yelped, picking dough out of his hair.

"Hospital, I said!" Lucas replied. "I missed breakfast and lunch, you know. Apparently, an Elf's intestines can't handle the combination of citrus, chocolate, Guinness, and fiber!"

"Oh no!" Magnus groaned. "I'm _so _sorry, Lucas!"

Rigel blinked at him. "Oh, so you were…like, ill?"

"No, I just _adore_ Madame P's cart full of horrors so much that I asked her to give me repeated oral laxatives and enem-…"

"Oh, Merlin, NO!" Rónán cut him off. "She _didn't_?"

"She _did_," Lucas informed them. "And she's after your hide, Mag," Lucas added. "Meat pies!" Lucas then gasped. "I am _so_ starved!" Then he glanced at Rigel. "Why are you transferring to Durmstrang?"

"My own uncle wants to chuck me out for being a Leprechaun," Rigel reminded him. "You were here last night, remember?"

"Oh, yes, he's scared of you," Lucas sounded almost blasé, "Not really surprising, mate. I have to admit, I was a bit scared of you when I first saw you."

"_You_ knew?" Garrett wondered.

"I'm an _Elf_," Lucas reminded them, glancing at the House Elves, who were looking back at him in disdain. "Fine! _Sprite_, then, you lot'o'Brownies! Of course I knew! We can spot a Leprechaun a mile away!"

"Are you scared of me _now_?" Rigel asked in a very tiny voice.

"No, not after you let Adams live," Lucas shook his head. "And you're a good kid, I think."

Under other circumstances, it might have been funny.

"Rigel," Lucas offered, waving his hand at an icebox, and causing a fountain of ice water to come and levitate above his palm. "All of us Part-Humans have abilities that Humans don't. Some of them can be dangerous. Me, I could swamp the school with a tsunami from the Black Lake if I wanted to. Erik could maul half the population before anyone could stop him, and we all know what a rampaging werewolf can do. Give Rhys a butter knife, and he can turn it into a battle-axe. Don't let it bother you, mate!"

"Thanks," Rigel finally smiled for the first time that day.

"Ahem," Garrett cut in.

"Selkies can hold their breath for a long time, tolerate extreme cold that would kill a Human, and swim for miles with their endurance," Lucas added, grinning.

"So what does that make _me_?" Ewan asked. "I got nothing?"

"It makes you our anchor to Humanity," Rhys informed him, "Something to remind us of what we all _want_ to be, I wonder?"

"Oh!" Ewan smiled, too.

And so it was that the Scoffers – at least, the Part-Human ones – enjoyed their dinner in the kitchen together with the House Elves that night. Above them in the Great Hall, Connor Poynter and Aaron Jordan found their usual spot deserted and knew that something was wrong. At the Staff table, even a disgruntled Orion Malfoy found no fault with his dessert – even though he knew who had to have made it. Madame Boudica Iceni gave Hufflepuff five points, marveling at the mix of apples and pears in the lightly dusted sweet pie with such a flaky and puffed crust that so well contained the thick fruit syrup.

Headmaster Weasley was delighted, and after dinner was finished, he ordered Harry, Orion, and Pamona Longbottom to his office for a lengthy discussion.

Down in Hufflepuff House, after the dishes were all done, nine drowsing and very emotionally exhausted boys decided on a sleepover. Rhys was elated at getting to sleep underground again, as they doubled up and found that their twin beds automatically expanded themselves to king size to accommodate two occupants.

On the table in the kitchen, there was a note that read: "**You're on your own tonight**!"

"Any bedwetters in this lot?" Rónán asked.

Garrett's face went red.

"Don't worry, mate, it's your _lucky _night! I promise," Rigel smiled at him, as they all went to brush their teeth and get ready for bed.

"I have to go check something," Magnus excused himself. "Be right back!"

He then sneaked back through the Common Room, which was mostly deserted, and back to the kitchen. He opened the loading bay doors, went up, and hid behind a rosebush. He scanned the area as best he could, found no one, then gave his wand a good shake as he'd seen his teacher do.

"I _know_ you're listening, old man!" He hissed at it.

There was no reply, but Magnus had a feeling that his involvement in the Fidelious Charm had somehow connected old Harry's spy system to his wand.

"Now you listen up, sir," Magnus went on, "I know that you know that Rigel is a Leprechaun, and I know how Henry and a lot of folks feel about them."

"He's going to be expelled," old Harry Potter's dry voice crackled from the tip of the pinewood wand. "You're a quick study, aren't you, Gove?"

"Quicker than you think, sir," Magnus replied.

"Best _be_ quick, if you're best mates with a Leprechaun," old Harry warned him, "I knew what Niamh was when I was at the wedding twenty years ago. I've been watching."

"And you let Rigel come here, then, and have to go through all this?" Magnus snapped. "Why didn't you _say _something?"

"Wasn't my place. I figured that old man MacPherson would handle it," old Harry replied. "There _were_ precautions taken; Charms, Enchantments…until _you_ showed up and baked a cake!"

Magnus felt his lip curling in an ugly sneer. The more he talked to the old man, the more he was sure that he didn't like him one bit.

"Yes, a cake with _alcohol_ that a _teacher_ gave me," Magnus countered, and he heard old Harry hiss in surprise. "A cake that Henry tricked me into making, I wonder? So I'd do his dirty work for him, and expose my friend? You two planned this, didn't you? To get your own nephew expelled? What kind of family _are_ you?"

"One that isn't as close as we used to be," old Harry admitted.

"It was WRONG, plain and simple, sir!" Magnus snapped at him, but he wasn't done. "Well, _get_ closer, and hold on tight, old man," Magnus informed him, "Because if Rigel gets expelled, I'll tell the **Daily Prophet** that Harry Potter gives students alcohol, uses them to do his snooping at night for a security breach at Hogwarts that he's not fixed, a thief he's not caught yet, and that he isn't really even the _real _Harry Potter!"

Old Harry gasped so hard that Magnus' wand shivered.

"You _wouldn't_! You **swore**!" old Harry snarled at him.

"I read up on your charm!" Magnus retorted, "And if I deem it dangerous, I can blow it!"

Old Harry mumbled something about "Granger", then sounded to be getting a hold of himself. "What do you want?" He asked.

"An unlimited supply of flour, sugar, and eggs," Magnus told him, "And that you lot **leave - **_**Rigel **_**- alone**!"

There was a long pause.

"You're asking me to take on the Ministry and the School Board?" old Harry complained. "Who do you think you _are_?"

"I'm your Secret Keeper, _Potter_," Magnus spat the name, "And your Leprechaun-Nephew's best friend! Feeling like you can fight off a run of bad luck?" Magnus added.

"And that's _exactly_ why the Board of Governors _will_ expel Rigel Malfoy!" Harry snapped back, "That kind of power in the hands of a snot-nosed little brat like you! I _knew _Henry was making a grave error in choosing you for a protégé!"

"It's not easy, but it's right," Magnus reminded him. "Rigel's a mess right now! He's not even sure _what _he is anymore, and he's scared! He sat in our dormitory crying all day long! And the only ones who seem to care are us! You know, us kids you put on a watch-list? _**Oh**_," Magnus remembered, "And how would the press like to know about how Teddy Lupin used Blood Magic to try and cure –and failed – a Muggleborn kid with a werewolf bite? Aren't you supposed to report _that_? And do Aurors usually kill rogue werewolves on sight?"

"Go to bed, kid," old Harry sighed. "Henry will be in touch."

Then the wand went silent.

On impulse, Magnus picked up a leftover fruit pie and took it back to their room.

Magnus went back to his dormitory to find the others all in bed in pairs, with Rigel waiting for up for him. He locked his wand in his truck, deep under a pile of socks and pants.

He got into Rigel's bed, as Garrett hadn't seemed to have believed Rigel and had a bed to himself.

"I miss being tucked in," Rigel whispered.

"Me too," Magnus had to agree.

"Mag, you asleep?" Rigel whispered sometime later in the night.

"No," Magnus replied.

"Thanks for sticking up for me today," Rigel whispered, and Magnus felt his friend's hand take his own and squeeze. Then Rigel yawned. Magnus was thinking of what to say in reply, but Rigel had already fallen back asleep.

He was still clutching his friend's hand like a lifeline.

Around midnight, only one of the boys heard the door to their dormitory open, and the soft voice that whispered, "Sleep well, Little Prince." There was a small sound then, and Magnus cracked one eye open just a tiny bit to see Niamh Malfoy in the dim light of their nightlight torch. Magnus didn't move, but he felt their blankets being pulled up as they were tucked in snugly. Rigel got his wish.

Then he felt warm lips near his own ear.

"Thank you for being his friend," she kissed his cheek.

Magnus' eyes shot wide open, but Mrs. Malfoy was gone.

He thought he heard a fork clink on china, but oddly enough, Magnus too fell back to sleep and didn't awaken until morning.


	13. Chapter 13-A Portrait of History

**13 – A Portrait of History**

Headmaster Hugo Weasley of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry was in a bit of a conundrum as he paced his office, oblivious to all the subtle whirrings and soft whistlings of the assorted silver contraptions scattered about the room. He paced for a while, and the gazes of former Headmasters followed him from their portraits.

"Oh, stop it, Weasley!" the Portrait of Severus Snape snapped at him. "You're making me dizzy!"

"Severus, be patient," Albus Dumbledore reminded him. "The Headmaster has a lot on his mind!" Snape rolled his eyes and snorted.

Then Hugo stopped, turning to face the three teachers and one guest seated on the other side of his desk, who were looking much like students facing expulsion for some heinous act. They were the teachers who knew the truth about Rigel Ossian Arthur Malfoy of Hufflepuff House.

"Supplying _alcohol_ to students!" Hugo said in an even tone, which made his rather whimsical appearance all the more commanding. He glared at Harry Potter, or, at least the man that he _thought _was Harry Potter. "Do you have _any_ idea, Uncle, of what will happen if _this one_ gets out?!"

"All part of an official Auror investigation, Nephew," Harry reminded him. "Clause 23 of the Auror Code of…"

"_Damn_ your code!" Hugo spat, "Don't you remember Uncle George? Don't you remember cousin Gabriel? _You_, giving alcohol to innocent little _children_! You've started them on the path to ruination!"

"Chocolate cakes are the path to ruination?" Dumbledore asked.

"I had no idea," Snape agreed.

"Cousin Gabriel? Wasn't he the cousin no one talked about?" Orion Malfoy put in. Then he seemed to remember something else as he smirked. "Uncle, weren't you and the Scamander Twins, along with Albus and his Slytherin mates, almost _all_ expelled for turning water into rum and trashing the Gryffindor Common Room when the party got out of control?" Orion asked innocently. "Dad mentioned it once?"

Hugo then turned his glare upon him.

"And _you_!" He fired at Orion. "I should have expected such from someone who was practically raised by someone with so _few_ morals," Hugo snorted at Harry again. "Blasted Scorpius, anyway! Giving his blessing when you wanted to…to…" words seemed to escape him as he spluttered and waved his arms about.

"Marry a Leprechaun?" Orion supplied helpfully.

"Your grandfather Draco had a _heart attack_ over it!" Hugo exclaimed. "I remember hearing **'Do you take this woman**…' then it was '**I do**!'…and then it was '_**GARRRRRGH**_! **SPLAT**!' right there in the front row!"

"Actually, it was more of a **THUNK**!" Harry nodded, and Dumbledore laughed. Snape groaned. Hugo glared at Harry.

"Ahhhhh, _love,"_ Snape complained. "The things we do for it!" He too then glared at Harry.

"What's this about a near-expulsion and a wild party?" Pamona Longbottom asked.

"Well, you see, I was just an ickle Firstie, and Albus and his mates…hang on? Neville never told you?" Hugo wondered, his eyebrows going up. "Oh!" But he was still glaring at his two other teachers. "Why do you _think_ they changed the Firsties' textbook on Transfigurations and took that particular Spell _**out**_? Teach them how to turn water into real rum – in their First Year? How daft can you be?!" He began to grow excited again.

"So it wouldn't have mattered if I'd given Magnus _one_ bottle of beer or not," Harry countered. "He'd have figured it out, or gotten it from Hagrid."

"He won't figure it out with the revised text!" Hugo reminded him.

"I can't believe you baited those 'Puffs into exposing my boy," Orion shook his head. "You honestly didn't know?"

"No, but I suspected it," Harry replied. "My sidekick just did the dirty work _for _me, brilliant little chef that he is."

"_That _he is," Hannah agreed, yawning.

"And just how did _you_ get in here, Hannah?" Hugo wondered, as if noticing her for the first time being in the school.

"That House Elf, Sonny, is it? He came and got me. Doesn't he belong to the fat boy?" Hannah asked.

"No, he belongs to our preadolescent werewolf," Orion corrected her. "Teddy Lupin sent him along to keep an eye on the puppy."

"Don't you call my students names!" Pamona warned him. "And ''Puffs' is a very pejorative term! And _your_ son's one of them!"

Hugo, of course, then turned on her.

"Then why don't _you_ do something about them?!" He asked excitedly. "Running amok, pinching school stores, blowing the food budget, sneaking alcohol, doing the cooking…" He paused. "Well, can't fault them for _that_, I suppose," he smacked his lips. "Wonder if there's any of that pie left?"

Orion made a small noise. Professor Snape rolled his eyes again. "Theft of school property, namely apples and pears, and kitchen stores of groceries," Orion began ticking the charges off on his fingers, "Smuggling, sneaking out, out of bed and out of bounds, attempted access to the Restricted Section of Library, use of illicit Charms work, bribery of teachers, endangering other students, cooking with alcohol, consumption of said alcohol on school grounds, sharing their alcoholic desserts…-"

"Which applies to _your_ son, too!" Pamona cut him off.

"Who happens to be a _bloody_ LEPRECHAUN!" Hugo yelled at them all. "Which is mostly _why _we're here! You enrolled a Leprechaun in my school, falsified his dossier, endangered other students, and conspired to hide it all! And on top of all that, the boy's _mother_ – also a Leprechaun - sneaked in to scoff with them!"

"RIGEL'S NOT DANGEROUS!" Orion shouted back.

"Tell that to Aidan Adams!" Hugo retorted. "Your son almost cursed his teeth out!"

"'scoff'?" Dumbledore wondered, trying to change the subject.

"A play on the name of Escoffier, and the school by that name, meaning you'd rather eat in secret than do the curriculum," Harry supplied. "They invited Hannah to come and scoff with them – to eat dessert at midnight. That's how I met the boy back home."

"It would appear that you have a hole in your Wards, Headmaster," Snape pointed out scathingly, "Of course, with a _Weasley_ at the helm, the ship _is_ bound to hit an iceberg."

Dumbledore was consumed in a fit of laughter, though.

"What is wrong with _you_?" Hugo demanded of him.

"Would you believe that the little darlings have also had one of their number sneak, not _only _out of bed, but out of the School, off the campus, and into the _village_ - to go shopping, while using Polyjuice?" Dumbledore wheezed, removing his glasses to wipe his eyes.

Jaws dropped.

"You've got Firsties brewing Polyjuice?" Snape wondered, "My compliments to Madame Iceni, then!"

"How do _you_ know?" Orion gasped. "Who was it?"

"Who do you _think_ it was?" Harry countered. "Why don't you ask your _wife_?"

Orion glared at him.

"I have ways of knowing these things," Harry reminded him with a smirk.

"I'd suggest you all spend more time with the portrait of Cedric Diggory," Dumbledore advised. "The Hufflepuffs tell Cedric everything!"

"He's worse than the Fat Lady and Violet," Snape sighed. "And what's this about a Centaur touring Hufflepuff House?"

"Oh, _that_," Hugo sat back down, Summoning a pitcher of ice water. He did not, however, transfigure it into anything more powerful.

"I would imagine that his father, and leader of the tribe, will be beside himself when he finds out," Snape added.

"Not if he likes the biscuits that the colt took home," Orion offered.

Snape bonked his head against his frame. Dumbledore laughed harder. Hugo sighed again.

"One of the boys was asking why Aries can't attend Hogwarts," Hugo said softly. "Poor child. It isn't fair, really."

"He's _not_ a child," Orion pointed out. "He's a Centaur!"

"Disgusting, filthy little beasts," the Portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black put in. "I simply cannot believe that this school has admitted such a gang of…of…ANIMALS! And now you want to admit a Shetland pony?" he finally decided on the phrase. "And believe me, if I could use the _other_ M-word for them, I'd redefine _it _to include all these rotten little Non-Human pests that have infested Hogwarts!"

"_That _is quite enough of _that_," Pamona informed him. "I will not sit here and have you call my children…"

Snape then casually flicked his hand, and it reappeared as a fist in Phineas' portrait to punch him on the nose.

"Lot of that going around lately," Pamona mused.

"Not like he didn't deserve it," the Portrait of Neville Longbottom smiled.

"You've been awfully quiet, dear," Hannah smiled at him.

Neville looked thoughtful as Phineas tended to his bloody nose. A matron from another portrait that hung in the Hospital Wing far below came running to help him.

"Harry," Neville began, "I can't say that I agree with what you did. Whether I suspected it or not, I think I'd have left little Rigel alone. Are you really prepared for what might happen if the MacPhersons get wind of their little prince being mistreated here?"

"And how do you think Grandfather Mac's going to react when Uncle Hugo expels him? Do you really want an angry old Leprechaun after your arse?" Orion shook his head. "Honestly, Uncle, would you even have _admitted_ Rigel if you'd known?"

Hugo thought about it, wringing his hands. He glanced at one of the whirring little contraptions and rose to go and look more closely at it.

"This device," he explained, "constantly scans the Isles and continental coast for bursts of random childhood magic," Hugo went on. "When it detects it, a notice is printed out," he gestured at an enchanted quill and parchment. "A probe is then sent for further surveillance, and upon confirmation of said child's magical ability, his or her name is put down for Hogwarts - if the family isn't already thinking about another school. Rigel's name _did_ come up, some years ago."

"But _would _you have admitted him?" Orion persisted.

"No," Hugo admitted. "_No_, Nephew, I would not have."

Everyone looked at him in silence for a long while.

"I can't believe that," Hannah finally mumbled. "I thought this school vowed over a hundred years ago to never turn away a magical child again, regardless of that stupid Blood Status myth or anything of the like? Didn't we learn anything from poor Remus Lupin and how he was treated? Did we learn _nothing_ from the disaster that was Fenrir Greyback as a child?"

"I seem to remember making a decree to those words," Neville reminded them. "Just after Teddy Lupin defeated Circe the first time in the Werewolf War of 2010."

"Blood Status, human or not, doesn't even begin to cover the boys we've got this term," Hugo continued. "It's more involved. As you know, in 1811, then-Minister of Magic Grogan Stump passed the Classification Act. It created the **Beast and Being Divisions **of the **Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures**. 'A Being is any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws.' Therefore, Hogwarts, by decision of the Board of Governors, admits any **Being** possessing Human Magic, speech, comprehension, and the ability to channel magic through a wand, so long as said child does not fall under the heading of 'Beast'." He sat back down and palmed his face, peering at his audience through his fingers. "That's why Aries can't attend. The Centaurs got very angry with Stump and insisted on being classified as Beasts. Therefore, the law says that they cannot be enrolled here. Not that any have ever _wanted _to! Neither could one of the Merfolk, even if they _could _breathe air and had legs."

"But where do you draw the line?" Neville persisted. "When a child has mixed parentage, with which gene being dominant, and just _how_ dominant, pushes him or her over that line? When is the child a beast, then, and not a human being? And still a valid _person_?"

"As I recall, Leprechauns aren't even listed," Harry wondered. "Didn't they show up for Stump's decree?"

"Apparently not," Dumbledore cut in. "However, I don't think I'd consider that cute little boy a beast!"

"_You_ don't live with him," Orion sighed.

"Well you've got plenty of beasts enrolled_ now_," Phineas snorted, rather nasally. "So why _do_ you take in the wolves, then? _They're_ beasts?"

"_Were_wolves are only beasts for _one_ night a month," Neville glared at him. "It was that kind of prejudice that cost Remus Lupin, the best DADA teacher we ever had, his job – and _us_ the best education in DADA we could have _had_! It's no wonder the werewolves wanted to form their own school, since no more ever came here!"

"Belby," Harry cut in. "Marcus was one, but he managed to hide it for his entire Hogwarts career. His uncle Damocles invented the wolfsbane potion, you know. Poor kid drank it like coffee, every day, just to be sure."

Neville gaped at him. "Really? They hid it for seven years?"

"With some help from his friends," Harry nodded. "Anyone else see a parallel here?"

Snape sighed again.

"But other than that, I mean, even Professor Flitwick hid his slight Goblin heritage, too," Harry went on. "You think the Board would have hired him if they'd known back then that he was Part-Goblin?"^

"Yes, and now we've even got one of them, too!" Dumbledore cut in. "I should _so_ very much like to meet him!"

They all looked at him.

"Why?" Orion asked, twitching his nose.

"You don't like Rhys, do you?" Pamona asked bluntly. "_You_, of all people?"

"Talk about the pot and the kettle!" Harry laughed.

"I'm not the one bootlegging alcohol!" Orion countered.

"No, but _you're_ the one smuggling Leprechauns in!" Harry retorted, "No one tried to hide the fact that Geary's a Goblinoid!"

"How _could_ you?" Snape muttered.

"**Gentlemen**!" Hugo interrupted their argument, "Back to the topic at hand!"

"Which was?" Hannah asked. "I'm lost? I thought you were angry at the boys?" She gestured to Orion and Harry.

"Was it smuggling eggs?" Pamona smiled at her.

"Well, there was _that_, too," Hugo admitted. "Just keep it up, right then, Hannah? Now, about the Hufflepuff boys and their mates?"

"You were going to expel them _all_," Phineas suggested. "Dirty little…"

"Even Ewan _Scott_?" Snape cut in. "Although how a Pureblood Scott landed in Hufflepuff, I shall never know."

"He wanted to follow his friends," Pamona explained. "I know, because we talk!"

"Yes, over illicit midnight confectionery," Orion added.

"_Your_ wife was the trespasser, scoffing on Chocolate Orange Guinness cake," Harry reminded him. "Wasn't it you that was complaining about parental visits to homesick children?"

"Touché," Orion admitted.

"Speaking of French, isn't that one boy the Veela?" Hannah asked, hoping to change the subject.

"WHAT!?" Phineas erupted again, and Hugo flicked his wand, thus turning him to face the wall.

"They're all half, but for Rónán Greyson, who's a pure werewolf," Harry explained. "Sebastian Fournier is a Veela. Rigel, of course, is a Leprechaun. Magnus Gove, as you know, is a hybrid-almost-a-werewolf via a partly healed biting. Ewan Scott is the only pure human. We also have Lucas Bole in Slytherin, a Sprite, again half. And Ravenclaw has Garrett Alcott, a Selkie. Oh, and Gryffindor has Erik Bär, a pure Werebear just transferred from Durmstrang."

"Polar bear, I wonder?" Hugo asked. "His paperwork doesn't say?"

"Grizzly, perhaps Kodiak I think," Orion supplied, "From what I read in his dossier. Must have a Canadian in his family tree?"

"A _Canadian_? Oh dear!" Hannah gasped.

"Ohhhhh myyyyy!" Dumbledore breathed, "What an eclectic mix!"

"Tell _me_," Hugo sighed, putting his head down. "And don't forget our new Goblinoid, Rhys Geary, in Ravenclaw."

"Have you arranged for his care during holiday and summer break yet?" Pamona asked. "The boys were talking about it?"

"I think I'll see if Hagrid can take him on," Hugo nodded. Orion just sighed.

"See if Hagrid can take _who_ on?" Minerva McGonagall asked, just popping into her frame along with the Fat Lady and her friend Violet. "Sorry, what did we miss?"

"You _do_ want to keep this a secret, Nephew?" Harry reminded him, jerking his head towards the Portrait ladies.

"We've missed a good secret?" The Fat Lady complained. "Oh _do_ tell us!"

Hugo threw up his hands in defeat.

"Word is, you've got a Leprechaun?" McGonagall asked, getting them back to the topic at hand. "According to the rules laid down by the Board of Governors shortly after Hogwarts was _founded_, you _must_ promptly expel him!"

"Now just a minute!" Orion stood up, knocking his chair over.

"And _you_, Mr. Malfoy, are still on the proverbial hook for sneaking him in," McGonagall reminded him.

"How'd you know?" Orion asked.

"Diggory," McGonagall shrugged. "Thin wall to the kitchen."

"I know I _have_ to expel him. I just want to know _why_?!" Hugo exclaimed, looking beseechingly at the Portraits. "Do any of you know?"

"Just what _is _it about Leprechauns?" Hannah cut in, she and McGonagall exchanging a smile. "What's all this talk of expelling Rigel, anyway? What's he done wrong?"

Minerva and the ladies retired to another portrait across the room, a depiction of a very nice sitting room with ample furniture. Dumbledore joined them, finding a basket of yarn. He took up a pair needles and began to knit while he listened.

"I know, and I'll tell you," McGonagall offered.

"Please do!" Hugo nodded.

"As you know," McGonagall began, "Hogwarts was founded over eleven hundred years ago. All four Founders gave the school their own personal touches, taking years to complete their work. Helga Hufflepuff, valuing hard work and loyalty over all else, contributed heavily to the physical construction. Members of her House were the hardest working, you see, and they were the ones who physically and magically raised this Castle with their backs _and_ their wands. _So_ powerful was their magic, that even after Voldemort's assault of 1998, the superstructure still held and _most_ of the damage was not critical. Hogwarts stood fast, as it does to this day.

"Now, the exact names and incidents are lost to history," McGonagall continued. "But from what we know, Helga's best friend and confidant was one Philomena Muadhnait. All things considered, these two hard working ladies knew that it was going to take more than just a bit of _luck_ to not only build, but to keep this Castle concealed, from prying Muggle eyes in the future."

"I see where _this _is going," Harry mumbled.

"Indeed, Mr. Potter," McGonagall went on, "To make a long and rather boring historical story short, Philomena and Helga struck a deal."

"Oh, Merlin," Orion groaned.

"Indeed, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall nodded knowingly at him, "Philomena was not only good and noble, as her name implies, and a powerful friend – she was also a Leprechaun! When the Wizarding World decided to go into hiding from the Muggles, Philomena combined her magic with that of Hufflepuff to form the Enchantments that shrouded Hogwarts in its main field of protection and concealment. Helga was, without a doubt, the most powerful witch of her age. They used strategy devised by Rowena Ravenclaw, the cleverest witch of that age. According to legend, the men sat idly by drinking ale while the women worked!" She looked about the room primly. When no one dared comment, she continued.

"And it worked! From that day forward, Hogwarts was, and has remained, the magical place that it is today. It is more than just a pile of rocks and timbers with some windows, it _is!_ Some even believe that the School _Herself_ may be self-aware. She stands to this day, protected from even material decay, by the union of two very different kinds of magic allied in friendship.

"But part of the bargain was that Hogwarts would also admit other Beings, who were, at that time, not actually defined as they are today. This included Leprechaun children, if they possessed the right sort of magic. It also included others, such as Sprites, Goblins, and what have you – even Centaurs. You see, the Wee Folk and most other species _are_ naturally curious. And many of _their_ children were curious about these different humans who sought to hide themselves from other humans, as did these other Beings. And so they did that, and things went well for a little while."

"Then something went wrong," Hugo sighed.

"You know it did, or we wouldn't be hearing this," Harry nodded.

"Oh, such a _fabulous_ grasp of the obvious, Potter," Snape snorted.

"Of course, the student body of that day was thrilled," McGonagall went on with her story. "After all, they had a castle to live in now, and not rickety longhouses of wood or tents! But they had to decide _where _they were going to live, inside the Castle. You see, there were not any Houses, as we know them, at that time. Each student was taught equally by each of the Founders, and the students just sort of gravitated to one another in whatever dwellings they'd built, or wherever they rolled out their pallets in the Castle. This was when Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin joined their magic to create the Sorting Hat to solve the problem, with a touch of help, of course!"

"Help from Helga's friend, I'll wager?" Hugo nodded. McGonagall winked at him.

"And what a day _that_ was!" The Sorting Hat cut in, from its perch on a high shelf. Everyone jumped. "There I was, sitting on Godric's head, which wasn't all that great of a place to be, mind you! Then suddenly, I realized that I was _so _much more! I had awakened, and found myself conscious! Magic flowed through me from all four Founders, and in turn, I felt as if I _**became **_each of them as I sat upon all of their heads. Their thoughts and desires were mine, and mine alone, to know. Brave Gryffindor, who'd worn me since he was a boy – even when I was far too large for his little empty head! Cunning Slytherin, driven to perfection and remembrance of the old ways. Clever and witty Ravenclaw, with her dedication to knowledge. And of course," the Hat sighed, "Dear Hufflepuff. So hard working and such a wonderful lady!" The Hat then pulled a face. "Then the geniuses decided to have me sit on each child's head and analyse _them_!" It complained. "It was mad, I tell you – _mad_! All those dirty, scruffy little urchins following after the wrong teachers all that time! It was a bloody mess to sort out, I'll have you know! And not just a few were very displeased when I told them all where to go!"

"I'll bet!" Orion muttered.

"And then there was the lice issue, and the shaved heads," The Hat added.

"You digress, old friend," Dumbledore reminded it.

"But the most interesting Sorting," the Hat went on, with a nod to McGonagall, "Was that of little Deoradhán Muadhnait a few years later!" The Hat waited. "Well?"

"Well what?" Hugo asked.

Orion flinched. Harry noted it, but Orion wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Well don't you want to know what his name means?" The Hat sounded rather pissy.

"Oh, yes, please!" Hugo agreed.

The Hat harrumphed. "Gaelic for 'the good little noble pilgrim', or _exile_," it explained, sounding now rather ominous. "Darling little boy with the reddest of hair and freckles so thick that you couldn't count them. Beautiful green eyes so perfect that they were almost cliché, and ears so pointy that I thought they'd cut right through me!"

"He was a Leprechaun?" Orion wondered.

The Hat nodded, almost toppling off the shelf. "The first one to ever come to Hogwarts full-time through the bargain they'd made with the Wee Folk, and _everyone_ wanted him," the Hat explained. "According to myth, however, he was also a Part-Human."

"You're not going to tell us how much, then?" Harry asked.

"No," The Hat replied bluntly. "It's none of your business. Hat/Student Confidentiality. Where was I? Oh yes! Little Deoradhán, the alleged grandson of one of your precious Founders!"

They all gasped at that.

"And so it was, that the first Leprechaun child to come to live at Hogwarts full time was Sorted into Slytherin House!" The Hat announced, "And old Salazar was thrilled! Yes, he thought he certainly had it made, he did! Fancied himself and his House the luckiest alive."

"Hang on," Orion cut in, "You said there were other Leprechauns, because of the deal? If this kid was a grandson years later, what about the other Leprechauns and other-species students?"

"Day pupils," the Hat answered. "No Houses before that, remember? They came and went, as did human students who lived in the nearby village. Only the long-distance students actually boarded here. Why do you think Hogsmeade expanded so? And some of them couldn't come regularly because of home and work."

"Oh," Orion nodded.

"I see where this is _really_ going now," Hugo pulled a face, gritting his teeth.

"_Do_ you?" Snape wondered.

"In short," McGonagall took over again, "And again, according to legend," she nodded to the Hat, "Times were good for a while. It seemed that Slytherin always won the House Cup, and their students earned the highest marks. Everyone went to Slytherin for advice, and his older pupils were without a doubt the best mentors to the younger children. Everyone hoped to sort into Slytherin House, unlike the past century, sadly. But Salazar's head began to get a bit large, and friction began to develop amongst the Houses."

"Imagine that," Harry sniffed.

"But when young Deoradhán was a Fourth Year, he fell ill. Helga Hufflepuff, being well versed in the Healing Arts, was Matron at that time. She did everything that she could think to do, including calling in Janus Bonham, the foremost healer of the day. Leprechaun physiology, fortunately, isn't so different from a human's. It turned out that the boy was suffering from physical and magical exhaustion. The truth of the matter came out – the boy had damaged himself beyond the humans' ability to heal him, in using his Leprechaun magic to enhance the standing of his House. Naturally, Slytherin himself claimed no knowledge of this, and vehemently denied all accusations of personally coercing the boy into doing it." She looked seriously at them all, as if accusing them of cheating in her class.

"Sounds like a Slytherin thing to do," Pamona sniffed.

"As if Leprechauns aren't cunning and ambitious by nature?" Snape put in, "_Where_ is the proof that Salazar coerced Deoradhán into overusing his Leprechaun magic wrongly? What if the boy did it to himself to impress his peers?"

"What happened to the boy?" Pamona asked. "Was he all right?"

"He lived," McGonagall nodded. "Philomena, his mother, came to collect him shortly thereafter. When she found out what had happened, she drew her own conclusions."

"And hell hath no fury…" Orion muttered with a wince.

"You should know, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall reminded him. "Philomena took her son back into the Realm of Leprechauns for care, which Ravenclaw described as a 'magical land invisible to this one, out of phase with our perceived reality'. Legend is, Rowena even knew how to access it. No one ever saw Deoradhán again, but before Philomena left with him, she left the Founders with a parting gift – shall we say?"

"She cursed them?" Hugo wondered, wide-eyed as a child hearing a fascinating but horrifying bedtime story that was going to keep him awake instead of helping him to sleep.

"No, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall informed him. "Well, not _exactly_. You see, Philomena blamed Salazar Slytherin for her son's illness, and she blamed Helga Hufflepuff for not catching it, and for the abuse that she imagined that he must have suffered living amongst humans. She felt betrayed, and as we all know, Leprechauns are prone to short tempers and do not take kindly to perceived damages. It's much like stealing from a Goblin. And as it turned out, the boy _had_ been quite miserable at Hogwarts for all of his Third and a bit of that Fourth Year, or so he said. It seems that young Deoradhán told his mother a few stories about being taken advantage of for his unique abilities - by other students. And of course, being her little prince, Philomena believed _him_."

"Naturally," Hannah nodded.

"How do you bully a Leprechaun, for Merlin's sake?" Harry cut in. "They could vaporize you on the spot!"

"Not if you keep them out of the sun and cut off their alcohol and sugar," McGonagall explained, "And keep them away from gold."

Orion winced.

"Oh, it went farther than that," McGonagall added. "The other Part-Humans and Non-Humans, such as Goblins and Sprites, sided with Philomena and corroborated her son's story. Each one of them claimed that they'd been taken advantage of, or discriminated against, in one way or another. In fact, most of the armaments you see on the statues at Hogwarts to this day are Goblin-made, for example."

"They probably think we stole them, too," Hugo sniffed.

"And the whole Deoradhán incident also served to drive a wedge between humans and the rest of the … humanoids?" Harry wondered.

Again, McGonagall nodded. "In parting, Philomena simply told the four of them, 'Lot'sa _luck_ with your school!' – and off they went – never to be heard from again!"

"Ouch!" Harry exclaimed.

"And I'll wager that a good bit of the…other species…went with their friend, Deoradhán?" Orion asked.

"How many Part-or-Non-Humans have you ever seen at Hogwarts, since, Mr. Malfoy?" McGonagall replied with a question. "Other than the werewolves, who weren't well liked by anyone else anyway? It was a thousand years before Remus came here."

"But she said 'lot'sa luck'?" Hannah wondered.

"Depended on her tone of voice," Orion pointed out. "_If _she was being sarcastic…"

"Then we're lucky the school is still standing," Harry cut in. "Hogwarts does seem to have more than its share of calamities."

"And from that day forward," The Hat added, "Slytherin insisted that his House only accept Pureblood children. He even went so far as to place an interdiction upon me, that I place 'only the best children from magical families' in _his _House. He was quite upset over it, actually."

"But didn't Boudica say that Slytherin has had Leprechauns before? And they have a Sprite _now_?" Hugo wondered. "They've even had Halfbloods, and wasn't some boy named…erm…Oscar Bennett one of their first Muggleborns over a century ago?"

"Yes, well, I'd say that Madame Iceni knows the legend," The Hat replied. "And every now and then, I _do_ see the rare and lucky little Part-Human that _is_ Slytherin material. What the old codger _didn't_ think to do, you see, was to tell me that he didn't want any more _Part-Humans_ after the Deoradhán debacle!" The Hat laughed. "He assumed that I'd take that to mean _Human_, after losing his prized Leprechaun. And as for the Muggleborns, well, that was all _his_ idea some time _later_. Just so you know, Slytherin House did have a few Muggleborns back in the early days before Salazar got his knickers in a twist. I suppose I could go into a dissertation on magical genes, but I won't."

"After the Founders were wished 'good luck'," Orion realized, wide-eyed. "You think that Deoradhán's mum might have started the whole Muggleborn thing with Slytherin, too?"

"If the idea was already there, and I'm sure it was," The Hat nodded again, "That little nudge of Leprechaun suggestion might have enhanced it and brought it out. Recall that Slytherin didn't come up with that one until some time later, when he and Gryffindor began arguing about it endlessly. That was what caused Slytherin to leave, a split for Hogwarts, and not at all lucky."

"Well, that _is _a plausible explanation," Hugo agreed, "And think of all the problems it's caused over the centuries."

But the Hat laughed again. "The problem there, however, and it's really funny when you think about it, was that Slytherin didn't understand genetics! You see, legends began springing up shortly thereafter, of Muggle children who'd captured a Leprechaun and wished for magical powers and the like. I suppose old Salazar believed it, or, as angry as he was about losing Deoradhán, suspicious and jealous. Come to think of it," The Hat mused, "It _does_ sound like something that Deoradhán's family would do! Tweak a Muggle gene to carry magic, here and there!" It then laughed harder. "Or shut one off at random, which would explain Squibs."

"So there never were any more Leprechauns at Hogwarts?" Pamona asked.

"I didn't _say_ that," The Hat answered. "Blood gets diluted over time, you see. All that genetic drift, dominant and recessive genes, marrying a Muggle here and there. Every now and then, however, a seemingly very _lucky _little child comes along who fits the bill for Slytherin. Besides, if you couldn't see their ears, could you really tell a Leprechaun from a Weasley – height not withstanding? It's also a common insult or tease to call small ginger children 'Leprechauns', Irish or not! And just how _pure_ is a Pureblood, anyway?" It went on. "No one ever shows me their birth certificates, or family trees? I'm not omnipotent, you know! How do I know that old man Black _didn't_ cavort with a Muggle lady of ill repute one night in a drunken stupor and have an illegitimate child?"

Orion went pale.

"So _that_ was when the rift began to really form between Slytherin and the others?" Harry asked. "When he began to see other more talented students going into other Houses?"

"Perhaps he began to realize his error in judgment," Snape sighed. "As much as it pains me to say it, Hermione Granger, erm, _Weasley_, would have been a prize student, looking back."

"Regrets, Severus?" Neville asked with a grin.

Snape snorted in reply.

The Hat nodded, then turned to Harry again. "Perhaps, if the whole truth about Deoradhán were known, we could say for certain, Potter," the Hat added, "But it wasn't long after the boy's mother wished them 'luck' with their school – that Slytherin himself left in a rage about Muggleborns being admitted. And had _I_ not started theorizing on finding a loophole to allow alleged Muggleborns into Slytherin, that House would have died out after the war with Voldemort. Recall that the first year after the Final Battle, there was only _one _lonely boy placed in Slytherin House – Tristan Scott. Young Ewan's great-grandfather."

"And the three remaining Founders," McGonagall took over again, to get them back on track, "Got together with all of the parents to discuss what had happened. After all, some ugly rumors had to be put to rest, and parents were demanding to know the facts."

"Facts?" Orion sniffed.

"History is written by the victors, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall reminded him, "And the Founders minus Slytherin thought that they were just that. The problem of the Pureblood idea seemed to be solved, easily left to the Sorting Hat. Salazar Slytherin had gone, and with him, the strife that was already tearing the four of them apart. Philomena and Deoradhán were gone, along with all the Part-and-Non-Humans, and there wasn't any catastrophic damage, so that was all good, too.

"And so it was, that they founded the Board of Governors by taking twelve volunteers from the parents. It was decided to have three parents from each House, and that the Board would elect its own Chairperson. One of the first things they did, upon realizing that recent dealings with Leprechauns were not going so well as before, was to pass a resolution stating that if any Hogwarts student was found to have Leprechaun heritage, that the student would be immediately expelled to prevent further damage to the school and its inhabitants."

"Then why's this the first I've heard of it?" Hugo asked.

"It's deeply buried in the books," Dumbledore informed him. "After all, we never thought we'd have to use that clause again."

"That first Board of Governors blamed the near-breakup of Hogwarts on _one_ parent? Who _happened_ to be a Leprechaun?" Neville gasped. "Did it _never _occur to them that old Slytherin was simply being an _arse_ on his own?"

"Longbottom!" Snape snapped at him.

"Well, he _was_!" Neville retorted. "Just to up an' leave like that? Abandoning his students? His _children_? Can you imagine how hard those poor kids must have had it then? It's no bloody wonder their House took on such an attitude over time!"

"Just as it was after the war with Voldemort," Harry sighed. "Everyone would have blamed them for it. Poor kids."

"And Hufflepuff has remained 'on the bottom,' shall we say – in both ranking and prestige? Known as the 'House of Leftovers' or 'a bunch of duffers'," Snape added. "Not smart enough for Ravenclaw? Not brave enough for Gryffindor? Not ambitious enough for Slytherin? Oh well, toss them to Hufflepuff. True, Neville," he then conceded kindly. "Thank you."

Neville blinked in surprise.

McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Look it up, or ask Professor Binns, if you don't believe _me_. I'm sure it's all in the book **Leapin' Leprechauns**."

Harry and Orion both gasped, looking at one another.

"What?" Hugo asked anxiously.

"Magnus Gove has already read it," Harry shook his head. "They already know."

"Well, I suppose that explains my wife's Howler to Rigel," Orion sighed. "Now I guess we all know why Leprechauns hate Hufflepuff House so passionately."

Harry's right eyebrow went up. "Considering that Deoradhán's mother held her best friend as personally responsible for nearly killing the boy, I'd say so!" He agreed.

"Well it sounds to me like the mother didn't prepare her son very well!" Pamona disagreed. "They should have expected that someone might bully him or take advantage of his powers! It's just as much on her as it is on…'us'!"

"Tell that to _her_," Orion snorted.

"I don't recall ever reading any of this in **Hogwarts: A History**?" Hannah offered.

"Do you wonder that they left _that _bit out?" The Hat asked wryly.

"And so here we are," Hugo said flatly, pulling his wand and extracting a silvery strand of memory from his forehead. He placed the strand in a new 3D-Pensieve-Projector, then said "Acclaro!"

A three dimensional image of Rigel Malfoy in his pyjamas appeared before them, so real and vivid with cake icing on his face, that Orion nearly fell off his chair. There was no mistaking it as they all stared at the projection of a smiling little barefoot boy with coppery hair, green eyes, deep freckles, and pointed ears. He was sitting on the edge of the desk, just as he'd been sitting on the counter in the kitchen. He was saying something, having his cake and eating it too, but the projection had no sound. But it was clear that he was very happy, whatever he was saying to someone.

Orion thought he knew those four words as Pensieve-Rigel's icing-coated mouth moved.

"Nephew, I am afraid that I have no choice," Hugo admitted, leaning back heavily in his chair and letting the projection vanish. "A Leprechaun nearly tore this school apart once." He shook his head sadly. "At least now we know why."

"It's not something we _need_ to bring up often," McGonagall reminded him. "And I'm sure there have been a few Part-Leprechauns in the past who've slipped by."

"Could be a loophole to jump through, then?" Hannah offered. "Why not just keep quiet about it? Surely we can cover this up, like the Belby boy and his friends did?"

From the portrait of a sitting room, Dumbledore exclaimed "AHHHHH!" He then held up a black and yellow jumper for them all to see. "Headmaster, there are _always_ alternatives. One must simply find them!" Dumbledore advised. "I wonder if this will fit Cedric?"

Then Orion looked at Harry.

"This is all _your _fault!" Orion accused him.

"_You_ married her!" Harry retorted.

"Never underestimate the power of love, folks, or the magic that is in children," Dumbledore reminded them yet again. "Did you lot know that, even now, your little gang of misfits are having a sleepover in Hufflepuff House?"

"Is that allowed?" Hannah wondered.

"If they get permission, which they _didn't_," Pamona rolled her eyes.

"Where are they all sleeping?" Harry asked.

"According to the portrait of the family of badgers, two to a bed," Dumbledore replied.

"You can speak 'badger'? Wish I could speak 'badger'," Pamona smiled.

"Magnus and Rónán can speak 'dog'," Harry offered.

"I can speak 'cat'," McGonagall reminded them.

"I think it's sweet," Hannah sniffled, conjuring a handkerchief.

"Oh, I may vomit," Snape snarled.

"Would it also interest you to know that Rigel cried himself to sleep tonight?" Dumbledore added. "And that Magnus is already plotting _his_ course of action in this matter?"

"Does that boy _ever_ sleep?" Harry complained.

"Who said he was awake?" Dumbledore countered, "For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud." He thought for a moment, then looked at Orion and Harry. "You two _do_ realize that Magnus Scot Gove VI has succeeded in doing something that even the Four Founders could not do again, after they'd initially done it to create the school?" He asked.

"_Now_ what's he done?" Orion wondered.

Dumbledore smiled, peering over his half-moon spectacles as if he were not telling them everything. "He's simply brought all four Houses together in fellowship over a good bit of nosh!" The old man informed them. "Members of each house, human and Part, even a Centaur! That's all they want to do, really – just have a good time with their friends."

"Rigel never had any friends," Orion admitted, "We were too busy hiding him." He faced the Headmaster. "Uncle, I'm sorry. I've been trying to shift the blame for this onto Gove and the others, because I didn't want to admit to really being the one at fault." He looked at Harry again. "I quit the Auror job to follow my boy here, to try and protect him…to try and keep you all from finding out." He shook his head and smiled a wan smile. "And then some little chef from Godric's Hollow goes and bakes a damn cake and ruins it all." He bowed his head. "I just wanted him to have a normal life like I…"

"'Rion?" Harry asked in a low voice, wondering if Orion knew what he himself already did about the pending expulsion.

Orion looked up at the man who'd helped raise him, unaware that he was really looking at another boy who'd practically been his foster brother during some rough years. He might have grown up with Henry Griffiths, but he was seeing Harry Potter.

"I know, Harry. Believe me, I know. Niamh made it clear when we talked about having children. It's not any easier now than it was then." He choked, and Harry handed him a glass of water.

"'Rion, I won't let them," Harry offered, but Orion waved him off.

"It's all right, Harry. I know how the law works. I _was_ an Auror, for Merlin's sake! I know I'll never see my son again if they expel him! The MacPhersons will take him into that alternate Realm of theirs, and that'll be that."

The room was silent for a long while. Not even a Portrait spoke.

Then the air near the door began to sparkle and waver in tones of gold and green, and Niamh Malfoy emerged from the distortion.

Orion looked up sharply, his face stricken.

"I could not take him now, even _if_ I _wanted_ to, Husband," Niamh informed him. "Not even my father or grandfather could take him, because something too strong yet holds him here!"

"What could _possibly_ outgun a Leprechaun's magic?" Hugo gasped.

"Rigel's friends, for one," Niamh answered with a serene smile. "I have never seen my little prince so happy, Headmaster. There is a magic at work here that I know not."

From his portrait, Albus Dumbledore snickered haughtily, and as usual, didn't seem to be telling them everything.

"Let me show you something," Mrs. Malfoy offered, her voice almost musical and her expression dreamy. She used no wand, but simply cast her hand over the Projector-Pensieve.

And image of Magnus and Rigel in bed together formed up, and as Niamh moved her hand, as if editing a photo on a computer, the blankets in the image became transparent.

With his head on Magnus' shoulder, a sleeping Rigel clutched Magnus' hand in his own.

As the image zoomed to only their clasped hands, the Portrait of Albus Dumbledore cleared his throat._ There is a magic in children..._

"This is magic that even an _army _of Wee Folk could not break," Mrs. Malfoy shook her head. "One word from this boy, I wonder, might change the flow of Destiny, so strong is his will." She paused, looking hard at her husband. "The day will come when the Little Prince must return to the Realm, but that day is _not_ today!"

"Darling," Orion started, but she cut him off.

"Yer knowin' tha' Great-Grandda' won't live forever," Niamh reminded him, her accent growing harsher, "He's well o'er a t'ouand now, Love, an' the others have already agreed tha'_ they_ don' want to!"

From his frame, the Portrait of Neville Longbottom gasped as he stared at the projection of the boys. "You mean that Rigel Malfoy is…is...to be...?" He looked stunned.

Niamh nodded and smiled at him.

"Sweet holy mother of Merlin!" Snape looked stunned as well, while Dumbledore just laughed.

"What am I missing here?" Hugo wondered, seeming to be the only one to not realize it.

"My son is the heir apparent to be the next Leprechaun King," Orion then confessed. "His penultimate-grandfather is Deoradhán Muadhnait, the _current_ King."

**Notes & references**:

Dumbledore's sentence about dreams is a direct quote from POA. Look up the page # yourself!

wiki/Department_for_the_Regulation_and_Control_of_Magical_Creatures

wiki/Grogan_Stump

^ you can look this all up on the Lexicon or the wikia yourself!

Philomena – "powerful friend," old Gaelic name

Muadhnait – Irish Gaelic name composed of the word muadh "good, noble," and a diminutive suffix, hence "little noble one."

www. /female_gaelic_ 

Deoradhán: Old Gaelic name composed of the elements deòradh "exile, outlaw, pilgrim," and a diminutive suffix, hence "little exile" or "little pilgrim." Deoradhán had one Human grandparent – a Founder. You can guess who.

Deoradhán Muadhnait


	14. Chapter 14-The Friar's Tale

**14 – The Friar's Tale**

It had been the slightest of whispers in his ear that awakened Magnus on Sunday morning. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, but found that his left arm was blocked. After a great yawn, he blinked a few times and saw Rigel's coppery head nestled in shoulder. His arm was wrapped protectively around the smaller boy, and as he came fully awake, Magnus realized that he was feeling something quite odd. His cheek also felt strange.

Then he remembered Mrs. Malfoy.

There was a crumb-laden dessert plate and a used fork on the nightstand.

_She _was_ here_, Magnus thought, with another thought coming hot on the heels of that realization. He hugged his friend closer. _I won't let them expel you,_ he promised them both silently, feeling guilty about the trouble he'd caused by his slip of the tongue.

But he also felt well rested. In fact, Magnus didn't remember ever waking up after such a sleep to find himself feeling so refreshed. Insomnia was a Gove trait, and he wasn't sure that he'd ever really had a full night's sleep, at least, not since he was a baby. He didn't think Sonny's pillow charms counted, though, as that almost seemed like cheating. It seemed a shame, though, to awaken Rigel. Snuggled up next to him as he was, one arm across Magnus' chest, Rigel looked to be all the things that his family probably would have sworn that he wasn't: sweet, innocent, helpless, vulnerable...

"Rigel Malfoy will be expelled," Harry had said, Magnus recalled.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Magnus whispered to himself, touching his cheek with his free hand. "She kissed me goodnight, I wonder?"

"_Who _kissed you?" Rónán asked, emerging from the door that led to the bathroom. He was sans tail, but his fangs and ears were canine. "Shouldn't have had all that milk before bedtime, lucky I didn't..." Then he froze, pulling a very, very puzzled face. He cleared his throat. "Well, erm, not like it's any of _my _business if you..."

"It's not like _that_, you goose!" Magnus snickered at what Rónán was implying. "_**Mrs.**_ Malfoy kissed me!"

"You kissed a teacher's wife?!" Ewan gasped, a bit too loudly, startling Erik awake. That wasn't a good idea, as Ewan found himself suddenly sharing a bed with what appeared to be an overgrown teddy bear. "AIGH!"

Erik realized what he'd done and changed back. "Sohn von einem Weibchen!" he swore in German, "Ent-sorry! I do dat sometimes!"

Everyone else was waking up by then.

"Wha's all the racket, then?" Rhys mumbled, his eyes wide and shining in the near darkness of the Cellar dormitory. "Is it morning?" The torches came up a bit, as there weren't any windows to tell what time of day it was. "This sleeping at night thing is hard to get used to!"

"Why are we up so early, and who's kissing who?" Sebastian wondered, as the rest of the boys began waking up.

"You say Rigel's mum kissed you goodnight?" Lucas asked, and Magnus nodded. Lucas looked very serious as the other boys slowly became coherent.

"Wha's wrong with that?" Magnus asked.

"M-Mam?" Rigel mumbled softly, extricating himself from the somewhat embarrassing position that Rónán had pointed out. Magnus suddenly felt an irrational surge of anger about that as Rigel rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Mam?" Rigel looked around anxiously.

"Guess again!" Magnus told him, as Rigel sat up, looking embarrassed. Then he cocked an eyebrow. "Mam were here again?" Magnus nodded at him. "Thought so," Rigel nodded once, as he flopped back on the pillow. "Ohhh, boy!"

"What?!" Magnus insisted. "She must have come back for the pie, and to check on you, mate!"

"Mother Leprechauns don't usually take kindly to children of other...species, especially humans," Lucas pointed out, exchanging knowing looks with Rigel, "If she likes you, if she _kissed _you, she's _marked_ you for something, Mag!"

The other boys looked intrigued. No one paid any attention to the various little oddities in their appearances, like dark eyes, pointed ears, or strange facial features. All attention was fixed on Magnus and Rigel. As Magnus swung his legs over to stand up, something flipped out of his pyjamas breast pocket.

It was a gold coin, and it wasn't a Wizard's Galleon.

"Leprechaun gold!" Lucas gasped. "She's given you a coin!"

"_Cac_," Rigel hissed, snatching it up to examine it. There was a portrait of a man stamped on it, who had to have been a Leprechaun. Rigel pointed it out to his friend, and the man's portrait turned, smiled, and then winked at them. On the other side was stamped an emblem of a large cauldron or pot, inside an outline that looked like a map of Ireland. "This complicates things, Mag," Rigel added, pulling an identical coin from his own pocket.

"How's that?" Garrett wondered, smiling.

"What'r you grinning about?" Lucas asked him.

"Any morning you wake up dry is a good morning!" Garrett smiled.

"_Told _you so," Rigel smirked. Then he turned back to Magnus. "The coins mean we've been bound, Mag. Mam has chosen you, now that the secret's out!"

"Chosen me for WHAT?!" Magnus suddenly began to worry.

"To be my liaison, my go-between, with the Humans," Rigel explained. "That means that someone else outside of my family or chosen circle of friends, KNOWS what I am! I guess it means...well...," he fumbled, "You're my bodyguard now, Mag."

Magnus' eyes went wide. Then they turned amber. "But _I'm_ **not** even human anymore!"

"You're not _really_ a werewolf, either, Mag," Rónán reminded him, "Even tho' you've got the eyes for it!" He smiled. "Sure you don't wanna go all the way?"

"NO!"

"Doesn't matter," Lucas cut in, "Mrs. Malfoy has _chosen_ you, Magnus. She sees something in you, something she _wants_." He paused. "Something that Rigel _needs_."

"But...but...but...I'm j-just...?" Magnus sputtered, "a...a...**Firstie**?" I don't know any good magic yet?! I'm just a Muggleborn!"

"You can cook," Sebastian pointed out.

"Maybe that's _why _she chose you," Rigel reasoned, his face going a bit magenta, "See, one thing Leprechauns can do, Mag, is 'pick 'em'. I, erm, well..." he paused, clearly embarrassed again, "I...I liked you soon as I saw you. I _mean_," he added sharply, when there came a few snickers, "I saw something _different_ in you. It's hard to explain."

"May I?" The Fat Friar asked, poking his head in the door. "I'm sorry, boys. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Not at all!" They all piped up, as the Friar drifted on in.

"What Rigel is trying to say, boys, is that he saw into the purity of Magnus' heart," the Friar explained. "Very simply put, he saw that our Magnus was a _good_ boy," The Friar patted his back. Oddly enough, his hand made a small 'whump' sound instead of passing through him. Magnus felt a chill and shivered. "Sorry! _That _was odd?" The Friar agreed.

"Strange things, in strange company," Rigel shrugged. "Who knows what kind of magical ether is floating about in here, what with all of us."

"Boys?" The Friar pried just a bit, "What's wrong?"

"I, erm, kinda had a bad day yesterday, sir," Rigel confessed.

"Want to talk about it, son?" The Friar asked.

"Not really," Rigel shook his head, running his hand through his hair. Then he shook it out so that his pointed ears were hidden.

"I see," The Friar observed, looking at each boy in turn with their little physical oddities: fangs, ears, eyes, and all their other part-human traits. "You lot are having a bit of trouble fitting in, I think?"

"Just a bit," Rónán admitted, "Sometimes it's not easy having a tail!"

"Or _being_ a Goblin," Rhys mumbled.

"You are what you _are_, and you are _so_ for a reason," The Friar explained.

"But I...I don't wanna _be_ a Leprechaun, sir! I don't wanna be _expelled_!" Rigel exclaimed.

The Friar gaped. Then he regained his professional composure, it seemed. "And you can _admit_ it, child?" He seemed surprised.

"_You_ didn't know, sir?" Lucas smirked.

"No!" The Friar shook his head, "I thought you were human, Rigel! I haven't seen a Leprechaun since..."

"Cat's outta the bag anyway," Rigel shrugged again, interrupting, "I'm guessing you know the rule about Leprechauns at Hogwarts, sir?"

The Friar nodded. "Those events happened even before my time, boys, but they were still fresh in the school's lore by then – and that was over a thousand years ago! Of course, I was much smaller then, mind!" He laughed, patting his belly. "Are you boys planning on attending services this morning, I wonder, since you're up so early?"

"You conduct services, Father?" Garrett asked, and the Friar nodded.

"Services for who?" Magnus asked.

"You," the Friar replied.

"No, I mean...do you mean..._God_, sir?" Magnus asked, not having had much of an education in things religious. To be honest, Magnus wasn't sure how he felt about God – IF there even was one, which he wasn't quite sure about either!

None of the boys said anything right way, until Rhys spoke up. The little Goblinoid was looking at his hands, sitting on the edge of the bed with his feet not quite touching the floor. "I...I do not think I should go," Rhys mumbled, "If...if it's OK, I will just stay here in your cave until _you _are all done," he finally managed in his halting speech.

"Well granted, my sermons do get a bit windy sometimes," The Friar joked, "But I want everyone to feel welcome." He drifted over to Rhys, giving him a sly, knowing look. "That's the problem, isn't it boys?" He then asked. "You lot don't feel welcome here?"

They all nodded.

It was Rónán who spoke first. "I wrote a letter to Mum and Dad," he said in a very small voice. "I wanted to go home."

"Es...it was mehr comfortable at Durmstrang," Erik added. "I was nicht the only one, you know, like ich bin...I am...here." The Friar gave him an encouraging look. "Jordan und the others are sch-...uhh, nice, but I think I...I mach them nervy."

"'Nerv_ous_', yeah," Sebastian agreed, "Since the thing with Ewan in flying class, girls don't even look at me anymore, much."

"Sorry," Ewan muttered, "If I weren't such a dork!"

"Trade you," Rhys offered with a wan smile, which on a Goblinoid, was kind of scary.

"What annoys me is how everything's good, until they find out you're different," Lucas added.

"I know," Magnus agreed, "I had a long talk with Professor Potter, and I don't care what they say – the whole Pureblood thing never did die out, much less the part-human thing."

"Children, _God_ does not care if you have strange ears, odd teeth, different eyes, pure blood, or even a _tail_!" The Friar assured them, looking at each boy, one by one, with a penetrating stare. "You are _all_ His children, and you are all _my_ children – Hufflepuffs or not. Take this to heart, boys, and _know_ it – no matter how badly _you_ may feel about your circumstances, there will _always _be someone at Hogwarts who loves you. I'll see you in the Great Hall in a bit? We have plenty of time before breakfast." And with that, he vanished.

Rhys sniffled, wiping his face on his sleeve.

"You know, it's OK to cry," Rónán reminded him.

Rigel nudged Magnus in the ribs. "C'mon, _mo chara_," he whispered, gathering up his shower kit.

"Good idea, kinda smells like a zoo in here," Rónán agreed.

"Are...are you all going to this service?" Rhys asked.

"I think we should," Ewan declared, giving Rhys a hand up. "And so are _you, _mate!"

"Right after we clean up," Garrett added.

"A bath? AGAIN?!" Rhys complained, as they all fell on him and dragged him in with them.

When they were done showering, the boys found formal robes waiting for them that they hadn't even known they'd owned. Their dress shoes had been Protean Charmed by someone, it seemed, and the black leather shone. "Oui, we look _good_!" Sebastian agreed with his mirror, tying back his long blond hair.

"We do?" Rhys asked, fumbling with his tie, until Rigel fired a Spell at it and it tied itself into a perfect Windsor knot.

"_How_ can you be a Ravenclaw and not know this?!" Sebastian smiled at him. "We are," his accent turned even heavier, "Very handsome men!" (It sounded like "VerEE '**and**Zum men!"

"If...if you say so," Rhys mumbled.

They meet up with the Hufflepuff Prefect, Miss MacMillan, in the Common Room. She was chatting with a few likewise disheveled older students on their way to the kitchen for coffee or strong tea, all of whom took note of the Firsties as they made their way through.

"Well, we didn't _know _you lot cleaned up so well!" The portrait of Cedric Diggory pointed out.

"Oh, isn't he _cute_?!" MacMillan gasped, pinching Rhys' cheek.

"He's too young for you, Marge," Cedric reminded her, as Rhys turned an alarming shade of red and his ears twitched, which only drew more attention to himself.

"**Boys**!" She added, when they were almost to the door. "Next time, _before_ you have a slumber party, ASK first!"

The boys, except for Erik, all looked appalled.

"Was does it mean, 'slumber party'?" The German boy asked, as his friends shoved him on out the door amidst many disgusted comments.

"Who DIED?!" Adian Adams snorted, as the boys arrived on the ground floor in their Sunday best. Adams himself was dressed in a fine green jumper with metallic silver weave, pressed gray trousers, shiny black dress shoes, and he looked as if he had somewhere important to go. He also reeked of cologne, and his hair was perfect.

"No one, YET," Lucas replied.

Rónán and Magnus began to sneeze. "What'd you do, take a _bath_ in it?"

Adams' hand strayed towards his pocket. "Outta my way, Freak Parade," he snorted.

"Where's he goin', this time o'morning, shinin' like a brand new Knut?" Rigel wondered.

Lucas grinned wickedly. "Quidditch pitch. Jennifer Malone, second year, substitute Chaser," Lucas said quite loudly, "Slytherin's out early, tryin' to be sneaky!"

Adams froze. "Don't **even,** Elf-boy**,**" he snorted, without turning around.

Lucas' nose twitched. Then Adams' hair suddenly stood straight out on end, wrecking the styling job he'd done to it. It then slowly collapsed.

"Have fun, _Addie_," Lucas waved to him. "You'd think he'd have learned not to insult a Water Sprite, when he uses _water based_ hair gel!" He added in a conspiratorial whisper.

"'Freak Parade'? Honestly?!" Rigel laughed, "Tha's just tired! Like HE'S ever gonna get lucky with Jennifer Malone!"

Magnus gulped at Rigel's mention of "the-L-word". It seemed to echo in his ears, and a fragment of a forgotten dream that night came back to him. Rigel was saying "lucky..." and – something else? But what was it? The dream escaped him, though.

"Wonder where Poynter was?" Rigel went on, as they headed into the Great Hall.

Without all its tables in their usual order, and with the benches arranged parallel in rows to the usual location of the Staff table, it did indeed look like a cathedral. Sunlight was pouring through the stained glass windows and enchanted ceiling, making little tendrils of fog rise from the colored panes of frosty glass. An older Ravenclaw boy was softly playing an organ that had apparently been either conjured up or hauled in from storage, since no one remembered ever seeing it there on the dais before. There were no religious icons, however. The Friar, it seemed, conducted nondenominational services.

There were already a few people seated, but given the population of Hogwarts, Magnus had thought that there would be more. One figure stood out prominently, however.

"Hagrid!" The boys all gasped, tearing their gaze from the almost ethereal scene and taking seats on the bench behind him and some other boys.

"Nice ter see yehs here, boys," Hagrid greeted them with shoulder-wrenching pats. "Thought I'd make it a part'a' detention fer these _sinners _here, wha'got caught sneakin' 'round tha forest last night!"

Seated with Hagrid were Aaron Jordan, Connor Poynter, Laddie Lawrence, and a few other Firstie boys that Magnus had ignored during the sorting. In fact, it looked as if anyone who hadn't been in the Cellar was now in detention!

"Well, _honestly_!" Laddie Lawrence the Gryffindor spoke up. "It were summat ter do!" He protested in a thick accent, "I mean, there's no television, no wireless, no Internet! Wha's a boy s'posed ter do fer fun?"

"Raised in the Muggle world, yeh see," Hagrid rolled his eyes. "Guess his ideer 'o'fun mus' be bein' ate up by Acromantulas, er trampled by unicorns!"

That reminded Magnus of something, Hagrid's mentioning spiders, but he couldn't recall it just then.

"All right, there, Mag? Mates?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, missed you lot at dinner last night," Connor added.

"Well, don't miss it tonight," Daniel Birken suggested, as he and Liam Creevey came in to sit with them. "Sonny says they're planning a nice roast with all the trimmings."

"_Where _did you get that jumper?" Rónán blinked at Liam.

"You like it? I _made_ it! We're doing Charms, like _Diffindo_, and the counter-curse, and related clothing-stuff spells!" The excitable boy began to babble.

The Hufflepuffs and their friends took in the sight of Liam's brilliantly yellow-gold jumper with metallic weave and quickly looked away as the sun fell upon him.

"Good grief, it's the Second Coming," Laddie gasped.

Rigel palmed his face and sighed, looking disgusted. "You monogrammed it?" He pointed to the black "LC" on Liam's left breast.

"Yes, you see, I sort of got carried away with the Spell, and well, it were jus' gonna be a scarf, but there was all this practice wool in Professor Patel's office, and I..."

"It looks like a bloody Weasley jumper [sweater]," Rigel groaned.

"A _what_?" Sebastian asked.

"A ghastly Weasley family Christmas tradition," Rigel explained. "All the women in the family seem crazed about keeping the tradition alive."

"So what brings you here, Mag?" Daniel asked, "I don't recall seeing you at chapel back home?"

"We, erm, had a talk with the Friar," Magnus admitted, not looking his friend in the eye, and instead, studying his polished shoes.

"Rough start of term?" Daniel asked, in a tone that more than assured them that he understood. "I'm sorry, Mag. I had no idea you'd have...problems. I would have said something if I'd known...you know?" Daniel fumbled.

"That I wasn't quite human anymore?" Magnus looked at him. "It's OK, Danny, you didn't know. Hel-...heck, _**I**_ didn't know!" Magnus blushed at the thought of swearing in church, even though he'd never been before. Surely this God of the Friar's wouldn't be pleased with him, then?

There was a sound of heels clicking on the stone floor behind them, and the boys looked over their shoulders with more a few gasps of surprise.

Madame Boudica Iceni, dressed in a modest gown of deep sky blue with a white shawl, was entering the Hall. Without her usual teaching attire, she didn't even look like the same lady. Magnus stood up, and the others followed suit.

"What'r we doing?" Rónán asked.

"You stand when a lady enters the room, and heads in your direction," Magnus hissed at him. "It's mannerly!"

"Well, _this _is a sight – all the little Firsties right in a row!" Madame Iceni greeted them. She raised an eyebrow. "What have you done _now_?" Several faces turned pink.

"If we may begin?" The Friar then asked, appearing at the podium as a few more stragglers came in. The Ravenclaw boy at the organ stopped playing, sitting quietly on his bench.

The Friar began with a short prayer, which garnered the boys some light cuffs to the backs of their heads from Madame Iceni. Not all of them were experienced with praying, and didn't know to bow their heads. Magnus noted that the Friar prayed to "Our Father," without ever naming him, and concluded his thankful prayer with the word "amen".

"Instead of a sermon today," The Friar began, "I'd like to tell you all a story. It takes place a thousand years ago, or more, when Hogwarts was still all shiny and new, and three of the four old Founders were still teaching here. It is the story of a boy, certainly not one of the very first Hogwarts students, but a few decades out from it. It is the story of a lonely little boy, a boy who left behind all that he'd ever known to embrace a new life that he knew nothing about.

"You see, this boy's earliest memories were of a remote, quiet monastery high in the hills. He had no parents, at least, none that _he_ could remember. He'd been left in the care of the monks as a baby. In fact, it was such a quiet and holy place, that he didn't even learn how to talk until he was almost six years old. It was a simple life, but a rewarding one.

"From the time he could walk and hold a tool, he was put to work. In the morning, a monk – always the same monk – would wake him, wash him, dress him, and begin his day with a simple breakfast of porridge. His clothing was little more than a plain tunic made of an old grain sack, and his shoes were only thick woolen wrappings for his feet in the coldest of weather.

"Yet every morning, for his first eleven years of life, the boy was greeted by a man who loved him, whom the boy considered his father. That is, if he had known anything of fathers, which he really didn't. But despite the hard work and silence of his remote home, the boy was happy. He never knew suffering, or unhappiness, or cruelty. He was proud in his work, but not too proud – since pride goeth before a fall – as he was taught.

"Every day, he worked in the fields. He worked with the various farm animals. He helped till the earth in the spring, grow the crops throughout the summer, and harvested in the autumn. In the winter, shivering near a modest hearth with the other boys like himself, he would study by firelight in the short hours of daylight, and sleep the sleep of the perfectly contented throughout the long nights.

"And all through his seemingly endless childhood, the boy was happy. He couldn't have thought to ask for anything more, never mind the fact that he never even dreamed that there could even _be_ more. Where he tilled the fields, the seeds sprouted sooner and grew into healthier, heavier-yielding plants. The weeds and pests seemed to abhor his rows, and the animals seemed to know him. No chicken ever pecked at this boy, no bull ever chased him, and no mother beast ever turned him away from her baby. Sick or wounded animals that the boy tended always recovered, and it wasn't unusual to find his small cell – ah, bedroom, rather – lodging some sick or wounded wild creature that he would bring home from some walk in the wilderness. And these innocent creatures of God always recovered.

"Raised with such love, this boy learned this lesson, as _any_ child will learn only that with which he is raised. When the older monks would grow tired or infirm, the boy would be there to help them with some chore. When a sick boy needed someone to sit with him, it wasn't unusual for this boy to sit up with him all night, seeing to his needs. And if someone was in need, the boy didn't hesitate to offer what little he had.

"Once, upon finding a lost child of some travelers in the hills, sick and starving, hardly able to crawl along the path, the boy carried him back to the monastery. He tended to him, watched over him, even gave him his share of the day's food so that the lost boy might recover more quickly and return to health. He even gave up his own little bed, when there was nowhere else ready for the lost child to sleep. Sick with fever and suffering chills, the boy gave him his only woolen blanket, opting to sleep on the stone floor nearest the fire. And it was winter, mind you!" The Friar added quickly, "Not like the mild winters we have now, no no! Snow tail-deep to a draft horse, it was!"

"This kid sounds too good to be true," Connor mumbled, and Rigel snickered into his hand.

But Magnus, swept up in the Friar's narrative, didn't hear them.

The Friar went on:  
"And when the lost boy was finally well again, somewhere abouts the Winter Solstice, and was recovered enough in his wits to tell his story, they came to find that he was an orphan – just like his rescuer. He told of his parents simple cart gone runaway, the horse frightened by something, and gone out of control on a slippery slope. He told of a fortunate snow bank in which he'd landed, breaking his fall, but finding himself cold and alone and lost in a strange land. His parents, unfortunately, had not been so lucky; the cart, after hitting a stone and throwing the boy out, had careened over a high cliff and down to the rocks below. Alone, he stumbled along until the snow blinded him, calling out for help until his voice failed him. And then, without even the hoarsest of whispers, calling upon the Father with only his thoughts, if it be His will, begging Him to end his suffering and reunite him with his parents."

Magnus glanced over to see a trembling Rhys leaning into Hagrid's arm, almost becoming lost in the folds of his usual moleskin coat.

"But the Father, it seemed, had other plans," The Friar continued, "For if not by a miracle, how would such a badly hurt, blind, lost child find his way to salvation?"

"Sounds like magic," Rigel mumbled. Madame Iceni swatted the back of his head.

"Because," The Friar winked at Rigel, "Our boy had dreamed a dream. Do you ever have bad dreams, boys?" He paused, as if waiting for a show of hands. Their knowing expressions were all the Friar needed to continue.

"He had dreamed, he told his 'father', of the hills. He told him of a path, heavy with snow, that lead to a pass that surely no one would try to cross in the winter. There, the boy said, he had dreamed of a smashed cart and a lost child. He said that in his dream, a great wind had blown down from the north, sweeping aside the snow from his way.

"'And what will you do, my son?'" The man asked him.

And the boy said, 'Father, I will put down my quill and leave my studies, my friends, to go there.'

"And his father replied, 'My son, it will not be easy to do this thing.'"

"And the boy replied, 'No, Father, but it will be_ right _to do it.'"

"'But how will you know where to look?' The father asked.

"'God will give me guidance,' the boy answered confidently.

"So it was, this boy who had never had even _one _bad dream before this one, girded himself with his winter robe, handed down from some older boy who had outgrown it. He ignored the holes in the wool, wrapping his feet and legs to go out into the snow. As he stepped outside the monastery door, the man he knew as his father grabbed his shoulder, as if to stop him.

"He then presented the boy with the only new thing he'd have had in his life – a finely woven woolen scarf, which he wrapped about the boy's head and throat. The only other thing he took was a hard roll and a small chunk of cheese, his daily allotment.

"It was a half-day's journey to the pass, even at a brisk walk on a clear path. Yet later that night, when the young ones had long since put away their studies and stoked the fires to go to bed, the boy returned. On his back, he carried a nearly frozen smaller boy, wrapped in his own outer tunic. The boy's fine, new scarf was bound about the younger boy's head, soaked in blood. The boy wore only his usual ragged tunic, standing there barefoot, having given his outerwear to this strange child, whom the elder monks declared surely would not survive his injuries.

"And so they boiled water to bath the child, warm him, and laid him in the boy's bed near the hearth, because there was nowhere else to put him. And when the boy's 'father' asked him, 'Son, how have you done this wondrous thing?', the boy replied:  
"'I ran, Father. The winds blew away the snow, and the air was so cold and clear that I heard his cries from miles off. And I followed a great bird, white as snow, along the way. An owl, I think?'

"'And how is it that you, my son, have not frozen to death?' The father asked the boy, 'Alone in the snow, for so very long?'

"The boy replied, 'Father, I did not go alone. God went with me. Perhaps He sent the owl.'

"And when the man grasped his boy's hands, he found them warm and pink, not frozen and blue. And when he insisted that the boy bathe to warm himself, he found no marks or frostbite or injury. Even when he advised his 'son' to share his bed with this half-dead foundling, knowing that as an innocent, and incapable of such acts, that nothing unseemly would happen, the boy declined. He cited the foundling's need for stillness and quiet, and he sat by his side, keeping the fire up, although there was not nearly enough fuel for such a blaze, until morning.

"That was where his father found him, and when he asked his son why he had done these things, risked his own life, since all innocent children who die are taken into the arms of the Lord, the boy replied, 'Because I love him, Father.'

"'But you do not even know him, this stranger, my son,' The father replied.

"'And that is _why_ I must love him, Father,' the boy answered.

"'Why?'" The Father asked, confused, 'He may be of bad stock, defective, a ne'er-do-well, a common thief?'

"But the boy only smiled, and said, 'And that is all the more reason to love him, Father – because there is no one else in the world who does. Is this child, lost in the snow, any different than a strange, squalling baby found on your stoop?'

"So it was, for a fortnight, the foundling boy lay in his rescuer's bed by the fire. The boy tended him, rousing him only long each day to take food and drink, which was the boy's own. When the father saw this thing, he gave half of his share to the boy, who in turn was giving his to the smaller, sick boy. Yet under the boy's care, the foundling recovered. He lost no fingers or toes, even though they had been blackened by frost when he'd arrived. It was as with all the boy's wild creatures, injured or sick livestock, or sickly plants – under the boy's care, they thrived.

"The elder monks declared it a miracle, noting it in their journals. And when the boy was able to finally sit up and speak, he told them his name, Robert, and fell, weeping, at the feet of the boy who had saved him. The boy was humble, however, and gave thanks to God, with Whom he said, all things were possible.

"From that day forward, but for only too short a season, the boys were inseparable. In innocence, they shared a bed in the boy's small cell. They shared chores, their food, and in the boy's eleventh summer, when it came to shave their heads and to shear the sheep for wool to make new clothing, they shared in that as well. With another boy to care for, this boy settled for a thinner, shorter, sleeveless tunic so that his friend might have a new garment as well, as his old clothing had been badly damaged in his ordeal.

"And they were happy, happier than any boys, I wonder, had ever been?"

The Friar paused, turning to stare for just a moment at the windows, where the sun had finally burned away the slight tendrils of fog.

"Until the stranger came calling."

"This is _not_ going to end well," Ewan fretted in a whisper.

"It was in the boy's eleventh summer," The Friar went on, "That the stranger came along the winding path that led to the monastery. While visitors were not unheard of, they were indeed rare. Often it would be a tradesman, some random traveler, or a Brother from a far-off church needing assistance or new staff members. There were farmers who traded, those from the village far below who bought and traded supplies, but this stranger was no tradesman or villager.

"Dressed in a fine black robe and traveling cloak trimmed in scarlet and gold, wearing high black leather boots with odd soles, he came along the path as if simply out for a stroll. Strangely enough, he carried no armaments to defend against highwaymen, and on his shoulder was perched a fine, white owl. He seemed rather taken with the construction of the stone buildings, the arrangement of paddocks and fields, as if he'd never seen such a thing in his life. On his head, he wore a fine and tall, pointed black hat.

"The monks wondered of him, and asked if he had come to claim their winter foundling. But the tall man shook his head, removing his hat in respect, and his golden hair was long and clean. It was clear that he was a man of substance, wealthy, and the monks again wondered if he might be looking to take in a page boy, or if he might be a childless man seeking to adopt a son. For you see, the monks were ever looking for families to take in their seemingly endless supply of unwanted boys. It was not unusual, in those days, for a younger boy to be given to the clergy by his family, if nothing else, because they could not support him.

"'In a manner of speaking,' the tall man said, 'Tell me, is there a young boy here by the name of Ignatius?'

"But the monks said they had no boy by that name. Still, the tall man persisted. He inquired if there might be any boys, aged eleven or soon to be, with odd talents or even rare physical abilities. This, of course, led them to mention our boy. When they described his marvelous, if not miraculous works, the tall man grew very interested, and asked if he might meet this boy. This made them decidedly nervous, not wishing to lose their prized student and his many talents. Still, they told the newcomer that he would find the boy, with another smaller one, in the gardens below the hill of their south wall."

The Friar's tale was interrupted by an odd sound: "SXXXNNNXX."

Madame Iceni whacked Aaron Jordan over his bald head with a hymnal, the Gryffindor having fallen asleep! "Cabbage stalks!" Aaron blurted, "Medium heat! Stir clockwise!"

"Pay attention," The Potions Mistress hissed at him, "Or you'll be scouring cauldrons until New Years!"

"How did you know?" The Friar wondered, "Yes, the tall man found the boys tending cabbages along the south wall! They were the size of a cricket ball, I recall, and the man wondered that there were no slugs, no worms, and no rot in any of them. There were no weeds in the patch, either."

"The man took in the sight of these two raggedy bald boys, grubbing in the dirt, and the hooting of his owl got their attention. The taller of the boys looked up, staring at the bird, transfixed. But when the stranger asked his name, if it were 'Ignatius', the boy shook his head, saying that he was called 'Nathaniel', meaning 'given by God'. At the man's encouragement, the boy told him of how he'd been found on the monastery doorstep as an infant. Fascinated that this stranger should like to talk to him, as he'd never even spoken to _anyone _outside the monastery, not even _one_ visitor, in his life, the boy and his friend spent the afternoon telling their stories to this man. And all the while, his snowy white owl perched on the boys' shoulder, listening, it seemed, and occasionally bobbing her head as if in agreement.

"'But sir,' the boy finally asked, 'How is it that you could know the name my parents gave me, when even _I_ did not know it?'

"And the stranger replied, asking the boys' forgiveness. For in his anxiety to meet him, he had forgotten the common courtesy of introducing himself.

"'My name is Godric Gryffindor,' he explained, 'And I run a school for special children, like you, with such gifts as you possess, Ignatius. We know a great _many_ things, child. I have come to tell you that, this autumn, on the first day of September, you will be leaving this place and coming to study at my school. My dear friend, Helga, would have come for you – but we know that the monks do not like having women here!' He laughed.

"Then the boy asked how long he would have to study at this school. But when Gryffindor told him 'seven years', the boy's countenance grew dark – very odd for him, since he was ever a happy child. The idea of leaving the only home he'd ever known, upset him.

And another thought upset him even more: "'Then Robert must come with me, sir,' the boy brazenly informed him, as overhead, clouds began to form up and blacken in the sunny summer sky. And when the man told him that Robert was too young, and not talented as Ignatius was, so that his school would not want him, a bolt of lightning split the sky, striking the squat tower at the monastery front gates in an explosion that sent rocks and mortar in all directions. This, of course, got the attention of everyone. The monks came running, seeing this unexplained storm, to collect their young charges and lead them to shelter. The air grew cold, and winds tore at the surrounding trees. Debris flew in the air, and heavy rain began to fall all around them.

"Yet through it all, this Gryffindor only smiled and seemed pleased about something. Then he reached into his robe and pulled out a long, polished stick. He held it aloft, muttered a few words, and the storm broke and dissipated at once.

"'You are angry,' Gryffindor observed of the boy, 'Tell me more of any odd things that you have done when angered or frightened, boy? Explain to me how it is, that a boy such as you comes by so many odd talents?' He added, offering the boy his stick.

"By this time, however, the boy's father monk had come for them, bidding them seek shelter. But when the boy took the man's stick in his calloused, dirty hand, the sun returned, a warm wind began to blow, and hills erupted in blossoms of lavender and heather and a hundred other wildflowers that should not have been in bloom just then."

"And the boy's father saw it."

"Uh oh," Sebastian breathed.

"'WITCHCRAFT!' The boy's father monk declared, 'You come here, Stranger, seeking to corrupt this place with foul sorcery? You attack us with lightning? Did you not think that we would let you have this boy? Do you think us so selfish?'

"And then his gaze fell upon the boy whom he had raised from an infant, as good as his own son, standing there with Gryffindor's wand in his hand, amidst cabbages suddenly the size of our modern footballs, surrounded by sweet smelling flowers."

"'YOU ARE IN LEAGUE WITH LUCIFER!' The monk declared, 'This explains a great many things, boy,' he lowered his voice, backing away warily, 'Your healing gifts, your deceptively serene nature, your talents with animals and plants! And surely it explains how you were able to rescue young Robert last winter!'

"And then he noticed the owl."

"'Little wonder how you both miraculously survived the ordeal, then, with is messenger of Satan to guide you!' He gestured towards the ruined tower and gates. 'Are you come to destroy us, then, Stranger?' The monk demanded, 'And take our children?'

"But Gryffindor shook his head. 'I only come to collect _this_ boy, and to assure you that there is no dark sorcery, no evil magic, afoot here, Father. Nor is there any in this boy, or his companion. Such children must be trained up, educated, so that accidents like this,' he gestured at the destroyed tower, 'Do not happen.'

"Then he turned back to the boy. 'Rebuild it,' Gryffindor ordered him, but the boy did not understand how he might single-handedly rebuild a tower. 'In your hand, you hold a wand. Think of the tower, restored, repaired, and make this wish travel from your heart, down your arm, out of the wand, and it shall be so.'

"And the boy, shocked and horrified at what had taken place, and unsure of what to do, turned towards the only man he had even known as anything resembling family – the man who was, in his eyes, his father."

"But what he saw there was not understanding or kindness. It was not the soft visage that he was accustomed to, and there was no longer any love in the man's eyes. Instead, these things had been replaced with hardness, suspicion, and even hatred. The boy began to cry, for the first time in his life feeling rejection.

"And he did as he was told, as it was in his nature to obey. He waved the wand, and although he said not a word, the tower reassembled itself.

"For a moment, no one spoke."

"'F-father, I...I...,' the boy began, but the monk cut him off.

"'_You_ are _not_ my son,' he said in a voice filled with loathing and fear, turning to Gryffindor and backing away, clutching his staff and holy book as if these were any match for such a Wizard. 'You will take this boy NOW, far away to this school of yours, and you will NOT return him in seven years! You will _not_ return to us,' he glared at the boy, who, for eleven years, had been as his own son, "**EVER**!"

The Friar then turned once again to stare at the colorful windows. For a long while, he said no more.

"**Then** what happened?!" Magnus piped up, which earned him a whack to the head by Madame Iceni as well!

"In that moment," the Friar sniffed, still not turning to face his audience again, "Young Nathaniel's...rather, Ignatius'...world came to an abrupt and jolting end. Rejected by the man who had raised him, exiled from the only home he'd ever had, he left that place with Gryffindor, never to return. The last he saw of it, as the peaks of the monastery disappeared behind the hills, was on that fateful day that Gryffindor literally took him by the hand and dragged him away from all that he ever known. Away from Robert."

Again, the Friar paused.

"But what of Robert, sir? The boy he saved?" Connor asked, which got him a smart cuff to the head as well. "No one told me you needed a bloody helmet in church!" He exclaimed, dodging the next swing of Madame Iceni's hymnal.

The Friar then turned back to them, and surprisingly, he was smiling. "While it might be a sad story, it had a happy ending, children," he explained. "You see, later that night, when Gryffindor and his weeping young charge stopped to make camp, the man saw how the boy kept looking longingly back the way. It was as if he were waiting for something, expecting something to happen. He was so tired, his feet sore and bleeding from walking all day on the hard road, yet he didn't rest. He simply stood in the middle of that road, staring into the darkness. What was running through his head, Gryffindor could only guess. Until, that is, he placed his hat on the boy's head, and his cloak about the boy's shoulders, as the evening had gone cool, and the shivering boy had only his short tunic.  
"'AH!' the hat blurted, and the boy nearly died of fright! 'Such a purity of heart. Friends are very important, aren't they?' The Hat asked. 'Well, my boy, there's only _one_ place for you! Miss Helga Hufflepuff will surely delight in having you join her House!'"

And Magnus remember similar words, spoken to him not so long ago by the Sorting Hat. Perhaps, he wondered, by even the very same hat?

"'What wickedness is this? **A bewitched hat**?' The boy cried, attempting to pull it from his head and cast is aside. But the Hat was stuck fast to his head! And it wasn't done talking to him, either!

"'Your friend will be along shortly, Nathaniel Ignatius Abbott,' the Hat told him, 'There is not a more fitting name to be given to you boy, truly a gift given by God, even though those idiots who raised you cannot see that!'

"And the Hat only laughed, as Gryffindor watched, bemused, as the boy accused the Hat of being a device of the Devil. But as they argued theology late into the night, the boy and the Hat, the boy still unable to detach the Hat from his head, there came a sound from the road: "'Nathaniel?' a familiar voice was calling.

"Gryffindor held his wand high, and it glowed with light all the way to the next hill – where there came a boy, battered and bloody, manacled and with broken chains at his wrists and ankles, stumbling along and calling his friend's...no, his _brother's_ name...in desperation.

"And the boy ran to him, once again, taking him upon his back and carrying him to safety. Young Robert told them that once Nathaniel had gone, they had chained him in the dungeons and performed an exorcism, citing his love of Nathaniel and his rescue and miraculous healing as signs that he was possessed of Evil. Over and over they demanded that Robert renounce his sins, renounce Nathaniel, but he had not.

"'And as the sun set, the chains all broke, and the door collapsed!' Robert told them. 'I prayed that you'd not gone away with some kind of magic, where I could not follow you! I ran down the road, and I just kept running, like something was pulling me along!'

"And so it was," the Friar began the conclusion of his tale, "That even though it was not the first of September, and even though Robert had no magic of his own, that Gryffindor took _both_ of these outcast boys back with him to Hogwarts. Young Robert promised that even though he could not be trained in the magical arts, he would make himself useful. Like Nathaniel, he had a love of books and learning. And after the shock of luxury such as the boys had never known before grew commonplace – plenty of good food, fine clothing and shoes, living in a warm castle with so many other diverse children, and almost anything they could ever dream of – the boys were still together."

"Helga Hufflepuff whimsically renamed him Robert Abbott Sprout, as he had been found by Gryffindor in the cabbage patch. Of course, both boys lived in chambers they helped build, just off the wine cellar, for the preparation of wine and food was something that they both knew and loved. There were others, of course, in all four Houses, but that didn't matter to them. What mattered was that they were together, and, it seemed, nothing could separate them. So while Nathaniel, now called 'Ignatius', practiced his magic, still befriending any sick or injured creature he might find, Robert was apprenticed to the library so that he might learn. He kept things orderly and clean, and while others worked with their magic and wands, Robert worked with his mind and his back."

"One might say that they lived happily ever after," the Friar concluded, "True friends, you see, are bound by _more_ than just simple things that they have in common. There are bonds that go beyond friendship, beyond family, even beyond what we know of magic," The Friar concluded, "Remember this, the next time you feel lost, out of place, or even frightened and unloved. Look to he who is your true friend."

And with that, the Friar slowly faded away, seemingly swallowed up by the sunlight. There was no hymn of benediction, no prayer. The service was simply over.

As they all left the Great Hall, tables and benches realigned themselves in preparation for breakfast. Even the organ seemed to have disappeared.

On the way out the door, as Madame Iceni was suggesting that the boys get changed before they had the chance to ruin their finery, Magnus and his friends nearly crashed into Harry Potter coming around a corner.

"I heard the Fat Friar was telling you all that tired old chestnut of a fairy tale again?" Harry asked.

"It was about _him_, wasn't it, sir?" Rónán asked, "When _he_ was a boy?"

Magnus' face, however, had gone hard. "You just _don't_ get it, do you?" He snapped at Harry.

Their DADA Professor looked at the assortment of boys staring back at him, the misfits, it seemed, that were out of place – even in their own Houses. Yet there they stood, side by side: Red, green, blue, and yellow.

"Just remember, it doesn't _always_ work that way," Harry glared at Magnus.

"I guess _you_ should know, sir," Magnus retorted, his friends gasping in shock at his cheekiness.

Harry seemed to ignore it, looking at Rigel instead. "Your father and I need to see you in the Headmaster's office."

"But I didn't _do_ anything!" Rigel protested, as Harry reached for his hand.

Magnus stepped between them.

"This doesn't concern _you_, Gove," Harry warned him, but he was suddenly pushed back as a potent Shield Charm of sorts seemed to spring up between them.

"According to Mrs. Malfoy, _yes_ it does, sir!" Magnus disagreed.

"Move, Gove," Harry insisted, and as he reached for Rigel again, he was blasted backward to crash into the wall.

"Boys?!" Madame Iceni gasped, seeing no wands drawn.

"I think we'd better go and pack, Mag," Rigel sighed. "Erik, yeh say yer old room at Durmstrang's still there?"


	15. Chapter 15-Brothers in Arms

**15 – Brothers in Arms**

Part of Magnus Scot Gove VI's problem was that, just as the Friar had said, he really _was_ a good boy. That was why he was genuinely surprised when breakfast came around on Sunday, and he hadn't yet been expelled for attacking a teacher!

In fact, no one had said a word to him about it. No one had said a word to Rigel, either, for that matter. The only sign that anyone even noticed the dapper little Hufflepuffs that day was when Headmaster Hugo Weasley came by at lunchtime and patted a few heads, tousled some hair, and told them (with a snicker) what good boys they were.

Lunch went by without incident.  
The afternoon, mainly spent playing with the Hippogriffs at Hagrid's, went.  
Dinner came and went.  
The evening announcements were about Quidditch and Halloween.  
Nothing.  
Bedtime rolled around, homework was double checked by Marjorie MacMillian, and still – no incident.  
None, that was, unless one counted the fact that Rónán's book on Charms was still missing. As Magnus thought about that, he remembered that Liam Creevey's book of Spells was still missing as well. He dutifully logged that in his ledger of odd happenings, but he had other things on his mind.

"They'll chuck me out first thing tomorrow morning," Magnus nodded, pulling his pyjama top on. He began to pace. "Owls are too slow! For pity's sake, _why_ don't they have some kind of communications technology here?!"

"They do. The Floo," Rigel offered. "Light it, stick your head in, and talk!"

"Not BLOODY likely!" Magnus gasped, pacing, "Stick me head in the _fire_?"

"Mag, old boy," Ewan suggested, "Not to be rude, but you wanna put some trousers on, mate? Those green y-fronts are getting on my nerves!" Magnus stopped, blushed, and did that. "Better," Ewan agreed.

Then it hit him. Magnus snapped his fingers. "I'm an idiot!" He muttered.

"I don't hear any arguments!" Rigel snickered, as Magnus grabbed up his wand and threw on his dressing gown and slippers. "Where you off to?"

"To make a call," Magnus replied, snatching up his wand and heading out the door. The boys all looked at one another and shrugged.

"He's gonna run all the way past Hogsmeade to use his cell phone?" Rónán wondered.

Magnus found the loading bay doors in the kitchen locked, but Sonny was all too happy to open them for him. Once hidden in the rosebushes, he gave his wand a shake. "I know that at least _one_ of you is listening," he spoke into the tip of his wand, after throwing out a hasty Muffliato Charm.

"So how was church this morning, kid?" Old Harry's voice crackled.

"Fine, sir," Magnus replied, still, somehow, minding his manners.

"I heard the Friar told you that story about how coming to Hogwarts nearly destroyed him," Old Harry snorted, and that made Magnus angry. He hadn't realized it, as he'd been too worried about Rigel, and then about magically shoving his professor in the corridor, but the Friar's story had hit him and hit him hard. He'd been pondering it all day long; he just hadn't realized it. "And before you bite _my_ head off, too, son, listen to me for a minute. So how was the story?"

Magnus felt his carefully crafted tirade slipping away from him. "He was awfully abusive of adverbs," Magnus replied.

"Look, kid, I'll be the last person in the world to fault you for thinking so highly of your friends," Old Harry began, "If it weren't for my friends, I'd have been killed at the end of my first year there. Merlin knows how I can appreciate how you feel about them, especially Rigel Malfoy, but trust me, boy – you have NO IDEA what kind of puddle of shite you've just stepped in!" Old Harry paused for so long that Magnus thought he'd lost the connection. "This is all coming too hard and too fast for you, kid," he finally added.

"It came harder and faster for the Friar," Magnus replied.

"That story always upsets the Muggleborns," Old Harry agreed. "Doesn't seem fair, does it, boy? For some of us, like me, finding out you're a wizard and going to Hogwarts is the greatest thing in the world! And for others, it's absolutely devastating." Again, he paused. "It's not what you expected at all, is it, Magnus?"

The boy caught it: not 'Gove', not 'boy', not 'son' or 'kid' – '_Magnus_'.

"No, sir."

"It all started with Slytherin, wicked old screw, and his Pureblood obsession," Old Harry went on, "Then it turned into part-humans, but that one sort of died out when little Deo left. Then it was the dangerous ones again, when they rejected Fenrir Greyback and then later accepted Remus Lupin. Then there was the bru-ha-ha over werewolves all over again with Teddy and his friends. Even my own grandson, Teddy Potter, had to finish his education at _**White Wolf Prep**_. It's always something, isn't it?"

"Seems to be, sir," Magnus agreed. "But WHY? I mean, we're not a bad lot! Honestly! _Why _don't they like us?"

"A lot of children who ended up in Slytherin House were asking that same question, right after the War," Old Harry sighed. "I remember your mate Ewan's grandfather, Tristan Scott, all too well. I don't have the answer to that one, Magnus. I'm sorry," Old Harry admitted.

"I think Hell just froze over," Henry chimed in.

"Mark your calendar, I'm feeling all maudlin tonight," Old Harry retorted. "I was thinking about _her_ when the boy called."

"Oh," Henry coughed.

Magnus wasn't sure what to say, much less who 'she' was. But being the kind of boy he was, he apologized to Henry.

"Not your fault, Magnus," Henry assured him. "It's not like you pulled a wand on me. Personally, I blame Rigel's mum."

"That's what we were just discussing," Old Harry snorted. "The boy's in it up to his eyeballs, Henry."

"That's my fault," Henry admitted. "I should never have given him the alcohol and encouraged him to make that bloody cake. Hell, I shouldn't have even pursued the matter with Rigel. I knew that Orion would have taken all the necessary steps. I should have left it alone. If I hadn't pressured Rigel, Magnus never would have stepped in to defend him."

"Pardon me, sirs," Magnus cut in, "But I don't understand?"

"Niamh Malfoy seems to like you," Old Harry explained. "She may not be a pure Leprechaun genetically, but she's still dangerous. What I don't understand is why she's done this. WHY would she endanger a child like Magnus, when there's no real proof that her own son is in any real danger?"

"There may not be any proof _yet,_ old man, but I think the danger to Rigel Malfoy is very, _very _real – and I'm not just talking about expulsion, either," Henry said. "She must think so too, or she wouldn't have come here to start with. While you've been maudlin around that cave of yours, you've been missing staff meetings, you know."

"So fill us in," Old Harry groused.

"The 'Little Prince', as the family calls him," Henry explained, "Isn't _all_ about sarcasm. Did you know that our Rigel is next in line to succeed the Leprechaun King?"

There was an alarming silence, broken only by the sounds of a few hardy late season crickets, and some unknowns in the Forbidden Forest.

"What about the two blokes in between him and the King they have _now_?!" Harry exclaimed.

"They don't want the job," Henry supplied, "According to Niamh."

"This is bad," Old Harry finally admitted, "Very bad!"

"I thought I said that?" Henry snorted.

"Excuse me again, sirs," Magnus cut in, seemingly nonplussed to find his friend was indeed Royalty, "But _why_ is it very bad if Rigel's the heir to their throne?"

"Because he's the heir _**to **_**a **throne," Old Harry explained, "And he's only part-Leprechaun. He's been raised as a human, in our world, and Leprechauns aren't the most social lot – or the only ones with blood prejudices. I'm sure there are Leprechauns out there who wouldn't like having a halfblood King. They also have a few enemies, within AND without. Never mind the fact of all the lore surrounding them, and the humans who might want to grab Rigel for their own gain. Not to mention any other rebel Leprechauns, hostile Elf clans, gold-loving Goblins...

"GOBLINS?!" Magnus squeaked, immediately thinking of Rhys.

"_Merde_," Old Harry swore, "Why didn't I see_ that _one right off? Hogwarts hasn't had a Goblinoid in over two hundred years, not since it came out that Professor Filius Flitwick was one!" He paused again. "Hell, there hasn't _been _a hybrid Goblinoid again in that long, anywhere!"

"Do Goblins like gold as much as Leprechauns?" Magnus asked.

"They run the _banking_ system, Magnus," Henry explained, "What do _you _think?"

"That Gringotts lot would love to have a Leprechaun to lock up down there in the old vaults, a few stories underground," Old Harry snorted. "Not a nice place, especially if your body relies heavily on sunlight."

"But doesn't Leprechaun gold vanish the next day, I read, if a human has it?" Magnus asked. "I think the gold Rigel paid the Twins with did that, sirs?"

"Sharp kid," Henry agreed. "Most of the time, yes, unless the little blighter really _wants_ you to have it. Still, and we don't fully understand the Goblin magic part of it, but there's something about having more precious metals in storage that's _very _important to them."

"Why hasn't there been any more hybrids then, sir?" Magnus wondered.

"Because without some complex magic, humans and Goblins can't naturally make a baby," Henry explained. "You see, ah, well..."

"I KNOW where babies come from," Magnus supplied sarcastically. "So you really have to want one, and use magic to make sure he conceives, and lives to birth? You'd have to carefully plan it, work hard at it, like a complex souffle?"

"Exactly," Old Harry agreed, "So your little buddy, Rhys, he _had_ to have been magically and genetically engineered..."

Again, silence.

"Henry, I want you keep a close watch on Rhys Geary," Old Harry ordered, "I have a bad feeling that he's _not_ there by accident. I'll see if I can connect his Goblin mum to Gringotts."

"Sir, Rhys' parents are _dead,_" Magnus offered. "He doesn't even have a home, since neither side of his family wants him."

"There _were _murdered, Harry," Henry reminded him. "We couldn't prove it, but we're convinced that the Goblin Chieftains ordered the hit."

"Rhys wouldn't hurt anyone!" Magnus protested.

"The next rule, Magnus – don't take anything for granted," Henry informed him. "I'm sorry, I know it hurts, son, but you have to think that way – like an Auror, Watson," he reminded them, and somehow, that seemed to make things between the two of them all right again.

"It's too bloody suspicious, all these part-humans enrolled this term," Old Harry agreed, "And the Goblinoid is the frosting on the cake. Once he's done the job he was created for, they can off him, too!"

"WHAT?!" Magnus gasped.

Old Harry sighed. "Kid, if there are factions out there planning ..._something_, and they've gone this far, I don't think they'll hesitate to ...harm...a child."

"He _was_ the one what blew Rigel's Fidelious Charm, sirs," Magnus reminded them thoughtfully, "the night we ate the cake."

"Merlin's pants, he's right!" Henry gasped. "Rhys saw right through the cloaking Charms!"

"It _could_ be why he's there," Old Harry mused, "If someone suspects Rigel, and needed Geary to expose him?"

"Yeah, but so did Lucas Bole," Magnus reminded him. "He said so. Said an Elf can spot a Leprechaun from a mile off!"

"Elves are pretty benign," Old Harry dismissed it. "They have no use for gold, make their own weapons differently than Goblins do, and really don't give a fu-...uhh...-_care_ about what goes on outside their territory. Besides, I don't think Elves and Leprechauns have ever tangled, have they?"

"No, but I'll ask Binns," Henry noted.

"The Elves _have_ tangled with Goblins," Magnus reminded them. "They used to hate each other!" Magnus sighed. "I hate to say it, but we're going to have to watch Lucas _and _Rhys, I wonder?"

"Good, that's a plan," Old Harry agreed, "Now, getting back to why Magnus here called me to begin with?"

"I...erm...I was...," Magnus fumbled.

"You were going to chew one, or both, of us out, weren't you?" Henry asked. "About Rigel?"

"_Again_ with Rigel!" Old Harry sniffed. "I thought I raised his dad better than that?"

"YOU raised Professor Malfoy?" Magnus asked. "Why, sir?"

"Long, tedious story," Henry cut in, "Let's just say that Rose and Scorpius Malfoy weren't the best parents in history, and leave it at that. Besides, I turned out OK?"

"No comment," Old Harry snorted again.

"I love you, too, Pop," Henry laughed.

"_Don't_ call me that," Old Harry warned him. "Now, getting back to Rigel. I assume that my nephew, Hugo, is going to have to at least _try_ and expel him? Add to that the fact Rigel seems to be content to go prancing about the school looking like a Leprechaun?"

"Hide him in plain sight, then, sirs," Magnus wondered, "The Twins think his Weasley genes finally kicked in, and you can't see his ears anyway."

"That's so _mental_ that it just might work," Henry agreed. "But enough of Rigel," he added carefully. "What about you, Magnus?"

"Out with it, boy," Old Harry agreed, "You're pretty darn important now, you know. How are you holding up?"

"I...I don't know, sirs," Magnus finally admitted. "I don't understand why all this is happening to me!"

"Well, we can justify everything right up to the point of Niamh Malfoy making you her son's bodyguard," Henry mused. "You have any ideas on that one, Magnus?"

Magnus again recalled the Friar's story, and he couldn't help but think of himself and Rigel in place of Ignatius and Robert. Magnus had been so afraid of not fitting in at Hogwarts, and Rigel had only wanted a friend. He remembered the little boy sitting there on the kitchen table in his pyjamas, eating his cake, and looking so happy. He's been so different from the sickly-looking, glum little thing he'd met at Kings Cross. And he remembered what Rigel had said, all smiles and eyes shining in delight: "I love you, Mag!"

Even though he'd only known his friend for a short while, Magnus couldn't imagine life without him now. The thought of it made his stomach hurt, literally, and a lump rise in his throat. It was beyond his comprehension how anyone could want to harm Rigel.

"I only wanted to do something nice for him," Magnus whimpered. "He was so miserable here."

"I'm sorry I tricked you into exposing him, Magnus," Henry repeated. "I _really_ am. I'm your teacher, son, so that means I can't always be your friend. Understand?"

"No, sir," Magnus admitted, "But I think I _do_ understand Mrs. Malfoy. I think I know why she chose _me_."

"I wouldn't thank her for it, though," Old Harry cut in, "She's pretty much thrown _you_ under the Knight Bus, if anyone comes after Rigel. I wouldn't call that a friendly gesture."

"_I _would, sir," Magnus disagreed, thinking that he just might know why. "When she kissed me, she was so happy that Rigel had a friend."

"Was that the night of your slumber party?" Henry asked.

"It _wasn't_ a slumber party!" Magnus protested. "We all just sort of...spent the night in the Cellar. No one wanted to go back to his House."

"She _kissed_ you?!" Old Harry exclaimed, "You didn't say THAT! What _else _did she do?"

"She gave me a coin, sir," Magnus shrugged.

"Go get a shovel and dig his grave, would you, Henry?" Old Harry sighed. "Good God, she's _bonded _the two of them!"

"No, I don't think _she_ did, sirs," Magnus disagreed again, "I think _we_ did that ourselves."

"Explain?" Henry asked, sounding genuinely confused. "I mean, she couldn't have come in and _forced _you into it. There had to be some kind of 'want to' there?"

"Besides them being best mates?" Old Harry added. "Would that do it?"

"He's just so...Rigel, I mean," Magnus tried to explain it, not sure if he even fully understood it himself, "I always wanted a baby brother when I was little, and when I made the cake for him, it was like Christmas or something! He was so happy! He said...he said...he loved me for it. And...and..."

"Yesssss?" Henry prompted him, when the boy stalled.

"Where's he going with this?" Old Harry asked.

"You should know, old man," Henry snickered.

"I thought he was just sounding off, you know, being silly!" Magnus replied, "You say things like that, but you don't really..._mean_ it? Like saying 'I'll kill him!' - but you don't go out and DO it, now do you?!"

"That's why Rigel, as a Leprechaun, has to be careful with what he says," Old Harry reminded him. "He really _said_ that?"

"Yes, sir, and..." Magnus paused again, thinking of the ordeals that the Friar and his inseparable companion had endured, "And I think she chose me, because...because _**I**_ love _him_, sirs."

No one said a thing, and it was all that Magnus could do to not cry.

"That night...that night she tucked us in," Magnus went on, "She was _so_ happy, too. I felt...I felt...safe...knowing she was there, sirs? Like nothing could hurt us?"

"She tucked you in, together, as in – in the _same_ bed?" Old Harry asked. "As in, a Leprechaun sharing his private space with you? That just does _not_ happen, Magnus! They're really a very selfish lot, you know."

"He...h-he was so scared, sir. He'd cried all day, thinking they'd chuck him out, and he'd have to leave. He...he held my hand all night, cried himself to sleep, even," Magnus confessed. "An' when I woke up, it was like looking at...at a...baby or something," he tried to explain it, "He looked so...innocent and pure! Does that make sense, sirs?"

"What do you think, old man?" Henry asked, "Mixing brotherly love and Leprechaun magic like this? Sound like the _**Dumbledore Theory **_to you?"

Somewhere, a twig snapped.

Magnus' wand went silent.

"Gove?" Professor Orion Malfoy's voice asked, in a surprisingly soft tone, "Is that you? What are you doing out here, smelling the roses – or eating them?"

"Yes, uhm, no, sir," Magnus answered. "Sorry, sir. I know I should be in bed."

"Yes, you should," Professor Malfoy agreed. "Were you talking to someone?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, your Muffliato needs work, kid," Malfoy chuckled.

"How much did you hear, sir?" Magnus asked, wondering if the Fidelious Charm would protect him then.

"Just the bit about crying yourself to sleep at night," Malfoy admitted. "There's no shame in that, Gove. Everyone suffers a bout of homesickness from time to time. But tell me this – were you talking about my son?"

"Yes, sir," Magnus confessed.

"To whom? And HOW?!" Malfoy asked, "Your mobile phone won't work here."

"I can't tell you that, sir. It's a secret"

"I'm your professor, and this is a possible security breach, boy! Tell me who you were talking to, and how you were doing it without a phone!" Malfoy ordered him.

"I can't, sir. It's a SECRET! A secret you can't _FID_DLE with, sir!" Magnus hinted.

"Fiddle with? _Fid._..Fideel-..." Malfoy reasoned. Then his jaw dropped. "Holy mother of Merlin, Gove, are you a bloody Secret Keeper for someone?"

Magnus froze.

"I'll take that as a yes," Malfoy sighed, sitting down on the loading dock stoop beside him. "Is it about Rigel? Will you at least tell me, if that's why you're out here, if this is about my boy?"

"Yes, sir," Magnus admitted. "It was about him."

"You were saying he looked so sweet and innocent?" Malfoy asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, he _does_, when he's _asleep_," Malfoy admitted. "Heard about your slumber party, you know." Magnus let that one slide. "Accio, juice!" Malfoy then waved his wand at the bay doors, summoning a pitcher and conjuring two glasses for them. "You know, I used to come in late from work at night, sometimes, and I'd just stand there and watch him sleeping."

"My folks do that too, sometimes, I'm not asleep though," Magnus agreed. "I like that they were there, watching me."

"Some of us never got that," Malfoy sighed. "You and Rigel are lucky like that."

"I think that's the problem, sir," Magnus pointed out. "Being lucky?"

"It _is_, when your son's a Leprechaun," Malfoy agreed. "My wife tells me she paid _you _a visit, too, Magnus? She said she tucked you both in, and kissed you goodnight? Bit old for that, aren't we?" He grinned.

And again, Magnus caught it – Professor Malfoy called him by his given name.

"No, sir. It was nice."

"And do you know what that means, Magnus? What she did?"

"Yes, sir."

"Does it frighten you?" Malfoy then asked, moving to take the boy's hand in his. It might have been too familiar for a teacher, but he reminded himself that this was _Rigel's_ dad, and not just some random adult in his life. His touch felt like that of a worried father. Magnus squeezed his hand in return.

"No sir."

Malfoy blinked. "It should," he countered, taking a long drink. He tapped the glass with his wand. He took another drink and coughed. Magnus could smell the alcohol. "Better. And that's why they edited the Firsties' spell books, by the way." Malfoy stated. "Why doesn't it frighten you, Magnus? The thought of why she did it certainly scares the hell out of me!"

"It _doesn't,_ sir, because Rigel's my best mate," Magnus found it easier to say the second time, especially to Professor Malfoy. "No, he's more than that, sir. He's like the little brother I always wanted. And I love him."

Then, surprisingly, Orion Malfoy put his arm around the boy and hugged him close. "I think that Niamh chose well," he agreed, "As did your other Secret Beneficiaries, whoever they are – and I don't care about that, either, so forget it. Not to mention Rigel's choice in friends?"

"I hope I don't let him down, sir," Magnus admitted.

"How much do you know about Rigel, Magnus?" Malfoy asked, "About his being...?"

"I think he's literally a prince, sir. I think he's the boy who would be king. And I...I'm afraid for him, now, sir."

"How do you know this?" Malfoy was intrigued.

"I just do, sir," Magnus shrugged. "I feel it."

"So am I, Magnus," Malfoy admitted. "That's why I came here, you know – to protect him. What do I know about _teaching_? I don't even really like kids, in general, you know? Being in class makes me a nervous wreck."

"Your secret's safe with me, sir," Magnus assured him, smiling up at him. "And I think you're a fine teacher!"

"Now you're just kissing arse," Malfoy laughed.

"Yes, sir!" Magnus laughed too. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Does Rigel know he's Heir-Apparent to the Leprechaun King?"

"No, not really," Malfoy sighed, "And let's _not_ tell him yet, shall we? But I'm interested in how _you _know?"

"Can't tell you, sir!"

"That's OK, I understand. You know," Malfoy mused, changing the subject , "when I was just about to head off for Hogwarts, I lived with my Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny for a bit, did you know?" Magnus nodded. "Uncle used to tell us, along with Henry my foster brother, Teddy and Artie, and the other kids and grandkids, stories about the War and how Albus Dumbledore had all these theories on love and magic. I never understood them when I was a boy, but I think I do now. Do you know what I mean?"

Magnus nodded. "It's like the Friar's tale, sir. How he loved that boy he rescued, because no one else in the whole world did. I think he might have loved him, because he was brought up that way. He loved him before he ever met him."

"Oh, Father Abbott cursed you lot with that one already, huh?" Malfoy smiled, ruffling the boy's hair. "I remember when he told it to us too, Henry and me and our friends. It was the Friar who made me realize that somebody really _did _love me, after all," Malfoy mused. "I'm sorry I was so hard on you lot," he then added. "But if you tell anyone that, I'll have you in detention for the next six years!" He smiled, touching Magnus' cheek. "This means a great deal to Rigel, you know. All he ever wanted was a real friend." He paused. "You know this might get rough, Magnus? Honestly, I'm frightened for the _both _of you now. I can't say I like what my wife did to you, but Leprechaun values are a bit different from ours."

"I know, sir. But I made a promise. I won't let you down."

"Even if you don't know what to do?" Malfoy asked, and Magnus only nodded in reply. Then Professor Malfoy hugged him again, giving him a soft kiss on his forehead.

"_Now_, I think it's time _you _were in bed, son!"

_Son_...

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Come by the kitchen, 'bout two?" Magnus offered.

"I think I will," Malfoy agreed, watching as the bay doors closed behind the boy. "Oh, Niamh, what _have_ you done?" Orion Malfoy asked of the stars.

Magnus didn't remember much of the dream, but when he awoke near one o'clock in the morning, he could still the voice of Mrs. Malfoy telling him, "It's time to go, your guest will be there soon." He smacked his lips and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. There was a funny taste in his mouth.

"Mushrooms?" He wondered. He shivered a bit as he pulled on his dressing gown, feeling cold and a bit damp. He checked his bed, but there wasn't any sweat. He hadn't wet the bed since he was five years old, either; of course, it was dry.

"How much do you remember?" Rigel then whispered in his ear, and Magnus nearly screamed.

"Don't DO that!" He hissed back, "What'r you doing up? And what do you mean?"

"You're the chef, you tell me," Rigel smirked at him, "How was that mushroom?"

Magnus gaped at him. His mouth was full of the taste. "How did you know?" He thought about it. "We had the same dream?"

"Kinda," Rigel nodded, "It weren't really a dream, though, Mag. Mam were there, ya know?"

Magnus nodded. "I remember her. She said it was time to wake up?"

"It was time to get out of that cold water," Rigel smiled, and Magnus looked sharply at him again. "When you're ready for it, you'll remember it _all_, tha's all I can say," Rigel added. "So who's coming to scoff?" He changed the subject.

"Your dad."

"_Finally_? He's _letting_ us do it? Good, we can show off our Hover Charms for him! What'r we makin', then?" Rigel asked.

"Well," Magnus mused, as they headed for the kitchen, "We've got plenty of those late season red apples left, and some of _my_ groceries, and Gran's eggs. What about some simple muffins, then? We can make a hard sugar glaze, too?"

"With citrus zest?" Rigel nodded, as they got down to work.

"Brilliant!" Magnus agreed.

They were just maneuvering the first batch to the work table with Hover Charms when Professor Malfoy arrived. "Very good, boys," he praised them, "Five points for Hufflepuff, although I think this might be considered an unfair advantage!" He sat down at the table, pulling his son onto his lap. "Speaking of Charms, has Rónán found his book yet?"

"No, sir," Rigel answered.

"But it'll be back," Magnus added, "I have an idea about that. I'm pretty sure one of us, Firsties, I mean, is going to come up missing a Potions text next. Probably next week, sir. Butter, where's my butter?" He looked around.

"How about a Fourth Year Charm?" Malfoy asked. "Accio, or the Summoning Charm. Fix an image of the object in your mind, and will it to come to you. Remember what I did with the juice? Think of a fishing line from your wand to the item, then reel it in!"

Magnus nodded. He thought about butter. He thought about the butter coming to him. "Accio, butter!" He waved his wand.

What he got was one stick, unwrapped, softened, right in the face – at high velocity! They laughed at him as he wiped it off.

"Good thing you didn't summon a brick!" Rigel laughed.

"Actually, I'm impressed that he got it to work the first time," Malfoy said, just as the other boys came stumbling in.

"You seem to be taking all this quite well," Malfoy pointed out. "Scott, I know you were worried, if you don't mind, how did your parents take the news?"

"About Hufflepuff, sir? They don't seem to care, said it were fine? That kinda worries me, I'll probably get it when I go home for Christmas, though." Ewan replied.

"You didn't tell them about the, ah...," He nodded at Rónán.

"Nope," Ewan grinned, helping Magnus with mixing the glaze. "Like I need to be eating this stuff," he sighed. "Oh well!" He then brightened up, "Not like I can do anything about it."

"What do you mean?" Malfoy asked, as Magnus checked his next batch of muffins.

"Doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat, I'm still fat," Ewan explained. "One time, I didn't eat for a week. I didn't lose a single pound."

"Have your parents ever considered using a Slimming Potion?" Malfoy asked.

"They said it was too dangerous, sir," Ewan replied. "And I hear it's a nasty thing?"

Malfoy nodded, as the boys glazed the first batch of muffins. "We'll ask Madame Pomfrey about it, though. If you've tried, and can't lose the weight, something's wrong."

Magnus looked up from his glazing. "Lots of things are wrong, sir, but I don't think this counts as one of them."

"Potter was telling me you're quite adept at pointing out oddities, even for this place," Malfoy agreed. "I have to admit, things _do _seem a bit strange this term."

"But wha's the connection?" Sebastian asked.

"Probably me," Rigel sighed. "Da', I've got a bad feeling someone knows about me, someone who prob'ly shouldn't."

"Well, you wanting to blow your cover has certainly complicated things, young man," Orion scolded him, but gently.

"I know. I'm sorry. I've made a real mess of things, Da'," Rigel muttered. "I...I was jus' so tired of lying, and looking like...like someone who's not ME!"

"I know," Orion told him, patting his back. And although Rigel expected more of a scolding, it never came. As he sat there on his father's lap, Magnus realized just how much he missed his own parents. It would be almost three months before he would see them again. Still, given how Professor Malfoy had treated his son at school so far, Magnus hadn't believed he ever see this kind of reconciliation.

As they all sat around eating muffins, Magnus went to get his log book. As they were pouring over it, he cocked his head. "I don't think Rigel blew up Hagrid's hut, though?" He sniffed and paused.

"Nose trouble?" Rónán asked, having finally awakened to join them. He'd neglected to change his ears back, as usual, and he was sporting a black, wet nose and some long whiskers as well. He sniffed too. "Headmaster," he added. "Ground floor, headed this way, freshly laundered sleepwear, too."

"You can tell all that, from HERE?" Malfoy wondered.

"He's using the red cinnamon/apple oil from _**Madame Royer's Tearoom & Crafts**_, too," Rónán added. "Mum likes it."

"How can you separate the smells, from the apple muffins and spices in here?" Ewan wondered as well.

Rónán shrugged. "You just do. Born this way, remember? Mum said I never fully changed back to human until I was almost six. The world's a really stinky place, you know," he smiled, showing his fangs.

"Your dental bills must be murder," Malfoy joked, as the door opened and Headmaster Weasley came in.

"Sir, where did you buy the oil in your lamp?" Magnus asked.

"Why, I think at Madame Royer's, why?" The Headmaster looked puzzled as he grabbed a muffin.

Rónán just smirked. "See, my nose separates things, I guess, just like your eyes do."

"That must be some nose," Sebastian agreed.

"And a fine nose it is!" Hugo nodded. "So, what's our topic for tonight, boys? Seeing as how Mister Gove here wouldn't allow Rigel to come to my office with Harry this morning?"

"Sorry, sir, it just kinda happened," Magnus apologized, "I was talking to him about it, and he was OK with it, but..." he stopped. Malfoy looked at him quizzically. Then he smirked.

About then, the door opened and Professor Potter walked in. "Hate to be late, you know, but I was checking the Library again."

"AH! Our odd book borrower!" Hugo exclaimed. "What's he got now?"

"My Charms text," Rónán mumbled.

"Sir, I don't think you have to worry about that until next week," Magnus offered.

"Do tell, Watson?" 'Harry' wondered. "What'll he pinch next, then?"

"The Potions text, First Year, and he might go after Second Year Charms, too," Magnus theorized. "Whoever this is, and I have a theory, sir, is someone trying to teach himself magic."

"But any magical child would already be enrolled, or at least on the ledger?" Hugo wondered.

"Not if it's a part-human, or a Being who's not allowed to attend under Grogan Stump's law," Malfoy cut in. "That narrows it down a bit."

"He seems to be interested in Spells, Charms, and maybe Potions, then?" Sebastian wondered, "Moved on to Second Year stuff in those, but he skipped over Astronomy and Herbology? Why?"

"You'll see," Magnus grinned.

"You don't think breaking and entering is cause for alarm?" Malfoy asked.

Magnus shook his head.

"Care to share your theory, Watson?" Harry asked of Magnus.

"Not yet, sir, if you don't mind?" He asked, reaching into the oven, sans mitt, for the next batch of muffins.

"Amazing, how he does that," Malfoy pointed out. "'Food magic', I wonder?" He was saying, just as the door to the Cellar proper opened.

"Oh dear!" Daniel Birken gasped.

"You're an hour late, for students," Hugo pointed out, summoning another pitcher of milk and conjuring some plates for them.

"Creevey, how much power does it take to run those pyjamas of yours?" Harry asked, taking in the boy's screaming yellow attire.

"Sir?" Liam asked.

"It's a curse you'll never break, Uncle," Malfoy snickered. "As I recall, you raised one of them about a hundred years ago?"

Harry nodded, and Magnus felt a twinge at what he felt was the wrongness of it all. Orion Malfoy had no idea that he was actually talking to his foster brother, Henry. And from their earlier conversation, it was clear to the boy that he missed him. Still, he couldn't divulge the secret they'd entrusted to him.

"Homework all done for tomorrow, boys?" Harry then asked of the two Second Years.

"Good as it can be, sir," Daniel replied, "Without a Spellbook."

Magnus raised an eyebrow. The Disillusionment Charm was now Second Year work, he recalled, as the Twins had told him.

"I can't find me Transfig's book, either," Liam added.

"Boys, take your snacks back to bed with you," Malfoy ordered them. "We have some things to talk about with the Firsties that are rather, ah, sensitive."

"Yes, sir," both Second Years nodded, "Thank you!"

As the boys left, Malfoy secured the doors and cast a few other protective spells. "Right then, we're all agreed here that we all know that Rigel is a Leprechaun, correct?" Everyone nodded. "And we're all aware of the dangers involved with this, right?" Again, everyone nodded. "Magnus here has come up with a great plan, though," Malfoy went on, "Since his hair covers Rigel's pointed ears, we're going to give up on the camouflage charms, seeing as how his Leprechaun side doesn't like them anyhow. We think we can pass him off as a Weasley easily enough."

"I already fooled Jones and Wood without even trying, Da'," Rigel nodded happily.

"Good! That's what we'll do, then," Malfoy decided. "You boys need to understand, we do not share this information with anyone else, under no circumstances! First thing tomorrow, you tell your other friends the same thing. Make sure they understand the importance of it."

"Do Birken and Creevey know?" Harry asked.

"I don't think so, sir," Rigel answered. "But we'll hint at it and see."

"Good."

"The rest of 'em, they'll understand, Da'," Rigel said. "At least, the part-human ones will. But I don't understand why it's so important that no one know, Da'? I mean, everyone knows about Rónán, 'Bastian, Magnus, an' all of 'em. How am _I_ different?"

"It's just like we talked about, Rigel," Sebastian offered, "Exploiting the captured Leprechaun, you said?"

"I was joking!" Rigel exclaimed.

"Some people out there wouldn't be," Hugo reminded him, "There are plenty of idiots out there that think if they capture a Leprechaun, he can grant them wishes, or give them his pot of gold!"

Rónán and Magnus then cocked their heads and sniffed. "Wha's that?" Magnus gasped, looking towards the door. But Rónán was faster. He changed form in a flash, jumped down, and attacked something flesh-colored sliding across the floor! It was attached to a string, which snapped, and he deposited his prize in Malfoy's lap, tail wagging.

"Good boy," Malfoy patted his head, holding up the item. "A **WWW** Extendable Ear!"

"Accio, Twins!" Hugo waved his wand, and the door opened as Fabian and Gideon Weasley came sliding on in.

"Bloody hell!" They exclaimed.

"Forty points from Gryffindor," Harry said, "And detention with me, to be announced!"

"Doesn't anyone in this Castle ever SLEEP?!" Orion Malfoy shouted at them. "What in the name of all that's holy are YOU TWO doing here?"

"Smuggling, Uncle," the Twins admitted. Then they grinned at Rigel. "Our ickle baby cousin...-," - "...-the Leprechaun!" They added. "Go on then...-" - "...show us the ears!"

Rigel rolled his eyes and did that.

"We'll have to modify their memories," Orion pointed out.

"Uncle!" They gasped in unison. "Don't you _trust _us?"

"In a word, NO!" Orion shouted at them.

"This could," Hugo interjected, "be _useful,_ however? The Twins seem to be very well connected here, and in Hogsmeade," The Headmaster explained with a wink. "It might be wise, with their enterprising nature, to bring them into our little deception! If nothing else, as spies and information miners?"

The Twins sat down and helped themselves to muffins and milk. "Uncle," Fabian began, "Let us get this straight..."  
"...Rigel's a real Leprechaun..."  
"...or just half?" They completed each others' sentences.

Hugo nodded.

"This could be bad, Giddy," Fabian said.  
"If anyone else finds out, Fabe," Gideon agreed.  
"Sure, an' they'll be after his pot'o'gold," Fabian faked an Irish lilt.  
Rigel rolled his eyes.  
"Or his Lucky Charms," Gideon nodded.  
"They'll be wantin' him to grant them wishes," Fabian went on.

"ENOUGH!" Malfoy barked at them. He looked down, where his hand was absently scratching Rónán's ears. He jerked it back. "Enough of you, too!" Rónán changed back, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Rotten werewolf noses," The Twins observed.  
"Next time, we douse ourselves...-"  
"-...In someone else's cologne!"

"You see what we meant about idiots?" Harry reminded the boys.

The adults all exchanged a look. "What about it, boys?" Orion pressed them. "Are you in, or do we take you back to your beds and Obliviate you?"

"We're in," The Twins decided.  
"Say now...-"  
"-...there won't be any cheating...-"  
"-...at Quidditch to favor the Badgers?"

"No, tha's why I decided not to try out," Rigel sighed, looking genuinely hurt. "I guess there's a lot of things I won't get to do?"

"Not now," Orion said, which confused the boys. "Rigel, we only want you to have as normal of a life as possible here. I don't think you want to go and live with your grandparents, do you?"

"_**No**_, sir!" Rigel looked like he was about to start crying again, and it hurt Magnus to see the expression on his face. "Uncle!" He turned towards Hugo, "Please! PLEASE don't chuck me out! I won't mess things up, I _promise!_"

"Nephew, I will _not_ attempt to expel you," Hugo promised him. "If our plan works, no one else need find out. I will not tell the Board of Governors, _certainly_ not! And if we're caught, we'll deny all knowledge of this cover up! I may even be able to come up with a roving Confundus Charm I can place upon your person!"

"Don't you love a good conspiracy, Giddy?"  
"I _do_, Fabe!"

"Your job," Harry informed the Twins, "Will be to watch and listen, and squash any and all rumors that start up about Rigel. If you hear anything _good_, you'll report it to us, no matter the hour. Understood?"

"SIR!" They both snapped.

"I take it you know how to use your wands as a Muggle mobile?"

The Twins nodded.

"Figures," Harry snorted.

"Dad does it all the time," The Twins explained.

"Excuse me," Sebastian asked, "But why don't you just try another one of those secrecy spells?"

"Because it won't work again, since Rigel doesn't want it to," Malfoy explained. "Boys, you're sure you fully understand the risks here?"

They all nodded.

"Even you, Magnus?" He persisted.

"Yes, sir. I know what Mrs. Malfoy wants me to do."

"Always thought Auntie might be...-"  
"-...one of the Wee Folk!" The Twins mused.

"Wee Folk indeed," Malfoy glared at them. "Study up on your Leprechaun lore, boys."

"So long as she doesn't...-"  
"-...give _us_ the coin!" The Twins said nervously, which was unusual for them.

"Too late," Magnus pulled the coin from his pocket.

"You still in?" Harry pressed them. "Knowing what's happened here? You do _know_, don't you?"

The Twins went a bit pale.

"_He's_ the one?" They pointed at Magnus.

"I am," Magnus nodded, putting his hand out. The boys all looked at each other. Then one by one, they each put their hands on top of each others'.

"Brothers in arms," Harry shook his head. "I still wish I could call in another Auror or ten though!"

"I think it's bedtime," Orion then said. "I'll herd this lot back in and make sure they get there!"

Once back in the dormitory, with the boys safely in their beds, Orion Malfoy turned to go.

"Da'?" A tiny voice asked, sounding anxious.

"If I do, I'll have to do it for all of them," Orion protested.

"It's OK, sir, we won't mind," Rónán spoke up.

Malfoy sighed. "You tell anyone about this, pup, and I'll have Madame Pomfrey _neuter_ you!"

So, one by one, the boys were tucked in. Malfoy left, and as the torches dimmed, Magnus could have sworn he saw a ghostly figure by the door, glowing green, but he was asleep before he could get a second look.

"Feelin' lucky, Mag?" Rigel asked, smiling.

"Hang on, I thought we went to bed?" Magnus wondered, staring down at his bare feet, which were dangerously near the edge of a high, rocky cliff!

"We _are_ in bed," Rigel shrugged.

"You mean we're having the same dream again?" Magnus asked.

"Kinda," Rigel nodded, leaning out to look down at the clear blue water far below. He unbuttoned his black and gold pyjama top, tossed it onto a sunny rock, and kicked off his trousers. "C'mon, Mag! It'll be great!"

"It's too close to Halloween to be this warm," Magnus observed, fiddling with his buttons.

"Right place, right time," Rigel grinned. "Seem clearer than last time?"

Magnus' eyes went wide, as he realized they were naked! "Your MUM was here last time!" He gasped. "What if she _sees _us?"

Rigel just laughed and took his hand...giving it a jerk! Rigel _was_ going to jump.

And Magnus followed him.

There was no hesitation; he and Rigel moved as one.

The next thing Magnus knew, he was falling. Falling, and screaming. It was, he had enough to time to realize, a very _long_ way down.

Then the world disappeared into a shocking explosion of cold, wet, blue.

"ARE YOU MAD?!" Magnus shouted, gasping and choking, when they finally broke the surface.

As they made their way to the rocky beach, stumbling and coughing and collapsing onto the warm smooth pebbles and sand, Rigel raised his hand – still clutching Magnus' own.

"I'd say yer ready, me boyo," Magnus recognized Mrs. Malfoy's voice from behind him, as he was suddenly enveloped in a soft green towel, thus alleviating his fears of being seen naked!

"What IS all THIS?!" Magnus wondered, looking around at the vast sparkling lake and the high cliffs covered in green. In the distance, a long waterfall made a cloud of spray that refracted the sun into a rainbow. Tall pines dotted the edge of the beach, and huge red white-spotted mushrooms grew beneath them. Everywhere was the green of new life, and the sky was as blue as the lake, making Magnus dizzy as he looked back and forth. Was he looking up at the sky, or down at the lake?

"Welcome ter Tha Realm, _mo chara_," Rigel said. "Here," he reached around to take a small satchel from his mother, and handed Magnus some clothing. Once dried and dressed, Magnus saw that he'd been given an impossibly light and airy woolen shirt in a faint beige, tan short pants with suspenders, and matching soft suede half-boots.

"You expected some ridiculous green getup with big gold buttons and a funny hat?" Rigel laughed, taking his hand, as Mrs. Malfoy took the other. "You wanna look around?"

Magnus nodded. "Yes, please!"

"And while we do that, let me tell you both a little story," Mrs. Malfoy offered.

And she did that, as they wandered along the beach and up the hills, across endless green fields under warm, sunny skies. Rigel picked a mushroom and handed one to his friend. Magnus had no idea how much time was passing, but her story was all about Leprechauns, and he found it fascinating.

After a while, a cool wind began to blow. Dark clouds appeared on the horizon as they crested the rim of yet another hill, blotting out the sun, and lightening flashed.

It began to grow dark as the thunder rumbled.

Magnus tightened his grip on Rigel's trembling hand, as Mrs. Malfoy tightened her grip on his.

Neither of the Malfoys spoke. Neither needed to.

Magnus could hear it coming.

"Get him _outta_ here, Girlie!" An old man then growled, joining them from out of nowhere.

"Not yet," Magnus said. He raised his fist, his wand-hand, in defiance. The old man put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You're **not** taking him!" He said to the approaching storm front, as a bolt of lightning stuck, blinding him.

Magnus sat upright in his bed, wide-eyed and panting. The Firsties' dormitory was filled with soft green light, instead of the usual torch light, and Magnus could sense a presence. His mouth was full of the taste of cold, pure water and mushrooms, and his whole body tingled as with the aftereffect of an electrical shock.

Then the pain hit him.

Gasping, he jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, torches flaring up ahead of him. Instinctively, he plunged his wand hand under the stream of cold water, sighing in relief. But as he looked up, he saw that the boy in the mirror wasn't wearing black and gold pyjamas – he was wearing the clothing that Mrs. Malfoy had given him.

"R-Rigel?!" Magnus whimpered, examining his badly burnt hand.

"I've gotten your deartháir back to sleep," Niamh Malfoy then whispered in his hear, taking his injured hand in her own. "Let Mamaí help," she added, and somehow, Magnus knew that these were the words, probably old words, for 'brother' and 'mother'.


	16. Chapter 16-Slip-Ups

**16 – Slip-Ups**

Halloween at Hogwarts, Magnus had heard, was quite a big deal to the staff and students alike. Already, the Elves were preparing for it, but with one small problem – they were low on apples. This meant a reduction in the amount of candied apples, caramel apples, with and without nuts, with and without hard sugar coating, and the list went on. They promptly blamed this on the Scoffers, but at least two of them couldn't have cared less.

Magnus Gove and Rigel Malfoy had other, bigger, things to worry about.

"Mag, your hand?" Rigel whispered to him in the shower that next morning.

"Your mum fixed it last night, Deartháir," Magnus whispered back.

"_What_ did you call me?!" Rigel squeaked, and Magnus repeated it. "That word means 'brother', Mag, and a Leprechaun _doesn't_ use it lightly!" Rigel's green eyes were wide. "What else did she say to you?"

"'Let Mamaí help', then she healed it," Magnus added. They studied his hand carefully, where there was now a shiny scar on the palm. There was also a gold ring on Magnus' finger, broad enough to run from joint to joint, with a large emerald in it. "I can't get the crazy thing _off_, either!" Magnus hissed, "But it's like I don't _feel_ it? Huge as it is, and I don't really notice it?"

"Tha's 'cause it's Leprechaun gold," Rigel informed him, studying the ring. "Thing's worth a bleedin' screamin' fortune, yeh know!" He hesitated.

"What?!" Magnus asked.

"It _won't _come off, Mag," Rigel admitted, "Not _ever_. Well," he held up his own hand, where he also wore an identical ring, "So long as we're both alive...Deartháir!" Rigel added sadly. "Gods, Mag, I'm _so _very sorry I dragged you into this mess! If they'd just _told_ me sooner, if they'd just not _brought_ me here!"

"What did she tell _you_?" Magnus asked, reaching for his shampoo, although it seemed silly, as he felt as if he'd just gone swimming a few hours before.

"Just the story, the both of us. Remember? And _they_ might hear," Rigel muttered.

"Hear what?" Rónán asked. "Wolf ears, guys?" He reminded them, snatching Magnus' shampoo. "Sorry, I'm out! Say, _nice_ ring, Mag! Mates**,** have a look at this!" He then sniffed it. "Yep, it's real gold!"

"When did you get that, Mag?" Ewan gasped. "It's pretty!"

Sebastian took a long, hard look at it, his eyes going avian. "That is Leprechaun gold, no, Rigel?"

Rigel nodded slowly.

"Ri-iiiii-gel?" Sebastian prompted him, "You should tell us, before one of the others sees it and says something! I am sure that Lucas Bole will know about it!"

"Or Rhys," Magnus added, sighing. He looked at Rigel. _Leprechauns do NOT use that word lightly!_

"Me mam were here last night, again," Rigel admitted. "I...I sort of..._took _Magnus." He explained.

"Took him _where_?" Ewan asked. "You sneaked out without us?"

"Oh boy, did we _ever_!" Magnus nodded. Then he blinked. "Sorry, _where _exactly did we go?"

"I guess I can say it," Rigel admitted. "I took him into the Leprechaun Realm with me."

"Cool!" The boys all agreed. "When can _we_ go?" Rónán asked.

"I don't think you _want_ to," Magnus assured them. "A storm is coming there. I don't know if time moves the same here and there, but I think something's badly wrong in Leprechaun-land," he said sadly. "When we got back, I was...hurt. Bad. Rigel's mamaí had to heal it for me. I think. I sort of...passed out, it was burnt so bad. When I woke up, in my bed this morning, I had the ring, I was healed, and Rigel had one too."

"I'm no expert, er nothin'," Rónán put in, "But Leprechauns don't go givin' 'way their gold fer free much, do they?"

Rigel shook his head. "Mates, I _have_ to know, an' you _have_ to tell me the truth! Has me mam talked to _any _of you, alone? I mean, not in the kitchen, when we had cake?"

They all shook their heads.

"_Good,_" Rigel sighed. "That means only Mag's in danger."

"DANGER?!" They all squeaked, just as the hot water cut off and Miss MacMillan checked in. The boys screamed and dove for cover.

"I just_ lurve _doing that to them!" She told her friend. "Margaret, can you charm the hot water tank again? Thanks, Luv!"

"She's a PERVERT, _she_ IS!" Rónán complained, clutching his towel, "Peekin' at little boys like that!"

"She just wanted to see your tail," Rigel snickered.

"Well, she _does_ have little siblings, she said," Ewan shrugged. "Probably changed a lot of nappies before, seen a few bare bums."

"We're a bit OLD for nappies!" Sebastian countered.

"We were taking too long, you _know_ how she gets about the hot water," Magnus sighed again, sitting down on the bench and drying himself. His towel was light green. So were his Y-fronts and socks. "They're gonna think I've transferred to Slytherin!"

"If tha's Leprechaun magic, I can reverse it, I think..." Rigel mused. He glared at Magnus' towel and snapped his fingers. The towel turned white again in a flash of bright green light. Then he did the undershirt and socks.

"Leave the pants [underwear]," Magnus stopped him, "I don't wanna risk _losing_ anything down there," he added with a smirk, and that made it OK with them again. It was quite funny, but it made Rónán shiver a bit.

"Don't mention the rings yet, guys," Magnus suggested. "Deartháir, I think we should pass the signal and get our mates in here tonight. Find out what they know, and let them know what's happened."

"You said it again, the D-word," Rigel pointed out.

"I did? I didn't realize?"

Rigel thought about it as they dressed. In fact, he thought so hard, he looked like it hurt. "They have to know," he finally agreed. "Them that know what I am." He turned to face his friends.

"What did you call him, Mag?" Ewan asked.

"It's the Gaelic word for 'brother'," Rigel explained. "It's right up there with 'luck'. A Leprechaun doesn't say it lightly; it's a trigger-word of our magic. Mam...Mam must'a gave it to Mag last night, in the Realm."

"It is about a Leprechaun in our world having a human...liaison, right?" Sebastian asked. "That much, I know."

"Yes," Rigel agreed. "Mates, I don't think I should talk about it...yet. I should...I should probably tell Da' what happened, an' just _leave_. I...I'm a risk to the whole school now, looks like."

"What do you mean?!" Ewan gasped. "_Leave_?!"

"Magnus was protecting me, when he got hurt," Rigel admitted.

"**WHAT**?!" They all gasped.

"Later," Magnus insisted, "After we tell your father?" He said more to Rigel, who nodded.

As they finished dressing, Magnus put on his impossible wool shirt. It wasn't yellow, but it felt good. As they went through the Common Room silently, Magnus stopped at the Portrait of Cedric Diggory. "No, it's not right to leave," he declared. "That'd be the easy way out."

"It is, if you want to eat!" Cedric laughed. Magnus and Rigel exchanged a look. Rigel nodded. "We need you, and a few other important Portraits, tonight, Cedric," Magnus added.

"Does this have something to do with the ladies sneaking about like they are, McGonagall and Violet and all them?" Cedric asked.

Rigel and Magnus nodded.

"Get Sonny to fetch a nice sitting room portrait and put in the kitchen, won't you?" Cedric advised. "Then we can all come."

The boys arranged that, then went on up.

In the Great Hall, Wood and Jones announced final Quidditch position selections. Connor Poynter and Aaron Jordan made B-team sub positions, and the boys politely congratulated their friends. As for the rest of it, they couldn't have cared less. Even Rigel didn't seem to care. Magnus ate with his other hand, keeping his wand-hand in his pocket. But when he didn't make any comments about the food, they all knew that something was wrong.

When the bell rang, the boys passed their secret tummy-rubbing signal to the others. Magnus went to the High Table, as the others headed out for classes. He let a few teachers leave, them that didn't know, he thought, and made his move.

"Gove, my boy?" The Headmaster greeted him, "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, sir, Headmaster. Mr. Malfoy?" Magnus turned and addressed him just so, not as he should a teacher, which got Orion's attention at once. Magnus looked around, made sure it was all clear, then held out his hand.

Orion Malfoy's reaction was much less than serene.

"Pretty!" Hugo grinned, as he leaned in to see Magnus' ring.

Orion was mumbling incoherently about it. He tried to pull it off. It didn't budge. His language turned rather colourful. So did Magnus' face.

"Go on to class, lie about it, hide it," Harry suggested, "Let's not arouse suspicion by being late."

"We _are_ late," Orion pointed out. "I agree, though. We'll discuss this later, boy!"

"Tsk, tsk, tardy teachers," Hugo shook his head.

"'round midnight?" Magnus smirked.

"Oh, dear!" Hugo added. "Best go and fetch Hagrid, too!"

"Hagrid?!" Orion exclaimed. "WHY?!"

"He knows more about non-or-part-humans than you think," Harry reminded him. He glared at Magnus. "And bring your notes, Watson," he added. "We've got to try and connect all the dots, no matter how ridiculous!" He then turned to Hugo. "Arm the defense perimeter, Nephew," he added.

"Good idea, Harry," Orion agreed, giving Magnus a sharp nod.

"Sir!" Magnus said, and bolted. He nearly crashed into Daniel Birken heading for the Cellar. "You're late, Danny!"

"Had to double check, Mag," the Second Year told him. "Got to Potions, an' me book's been pinched!"

"Can't take the chance anymore," Magnus muttered. "Thanks, Mate!" and off he went, waiting for the chance to get to Hagrid. If his theory was correct, and Magnus thought it was, then there was more than one reason to call Hagrid in.

The day passed uneventfully, as the Hufflepuffs didn't let on that anything was wrong. As the weather was turning much cooler, no one paid attention to a student wearing gloves, especially not in Herbology or Potions. However, sneaking out of the greenhouse proved impossible, as Professor Pamona Longbottom had been notified of the current problem.

"But we _have_ to go to Hagrid's!" The boys all protested.

"It can wait until he comes tonight," Madame Longbottom reminded them, "Your father," she shook her wand at Rigel, "said that you lot were to..."

Unfortunately, that was about the time that they found out what the rings were for. As she made to grab Rigel and Magnus by the collars, she encountered a pale green shield that forced her back, albeit not so hard as had happened to Harry.

"Sorry, Auntie," Rigel mumbled, hoping that calling upon the familial relationship with the Longbottoms would help. Combined with Rigel's pathetic expression, it did.

"Castle – _inside_ – **now**!" She repeated firmly. "I shall escort you!"

"Hang on! I'm an idiot," Magnus sniffed.

"You said that already," Rigel reminded him, and Magnus whistled loudly. A moment later, and a somewhat groggy Auguste the owl lit on his shoulder. "I know, mate, but it's not like you work _that_ hard?" Magnus comforted him. "You wanna go see Hagrid later? There's a good boy," he crooned, rubbing the bird's head.

Once safely back in the Cellar, Madame Longbottom left them with Sonny and the other Elves, who barred the loading dock doors after Auguste flew off with a letter. The boys settled in around one of the worktables with their homework, and Magnus' notes on odd happenings.

"Daniel's Potions text is missing," Magnus reminded them. "Rónán, go check our room. I'll wager your book's back." Sure enough, it was. "All right, seeing as how things have taken a turn here, mates, we've got to put this all together – now!"

"Mag, there's no guarantee that someone is coming after me _right now_," Rigel pointed out. "I mean, the most anyone could know about us so far, is how to make biscuits and cakes and pies! It's not like we've done anything shocking with magic – human or Leprechaun!"

"Hold on," Ewan interrupted. "I'm confused. You said you took Magnus into the Leprechaun Realm last night, and he got hurt? Why'r we all in a tizzy, then, if your mum healed it?"

"Because he was there with me, and he got hit with a bolt of … what do I call it? _Otherwordly _magic?" Rigel held out his hands.

"_Why _did you take him then?" Sebastian asked.

"It's hard to explain," Rigel shook his head. "It's like, you_ go_ there, but you're not really _there_? I just wanted to show him, to share it. I'd like to show _all _of you, but with the storm...it's like, someone there attacked us. They were probably after me, but Magnus took the hit."

"WHY are they...whoever...after _you_?" Rónán asked. "I thought it was humans, HERE, who didn't want Leprechauns around?"

"All they'd do is expel me, _here,_" Rigel reminded him. "No wizard in his right mind would try and hurt a Leprechaun."

Magnus blinked. "You know more than you're letting on, Deartháir?"

Rigel nodded. "Mam explained it, remember? You know how she calls me her 'Little Prince'?" The boys all nodded. "Well, it's because I _am._ I'm next in line to succeed the Leprechaun King."

Magnus exhaled, hard. "She finally told you? Yes. I remember now."

"Then that means you're ready, remember THAT?" Rigel reminded him.

Magnus nodded.

"I knew I was _in_ line, but I didn't know that all tha Grandda's and Uncles _both_ turned it down, an' stuck ME with it!" Rigel rolled his eyes. "Hell, what about all the uncles I don't even _know_, and the cousins? There's got to me more of them than there are Weasleys and Potters, and THAT is saying something!"

"Hang on," Rónán cut in, "Your dad's Professor Malfoy? Don't the Leprechauns go down the line from father to son? King to Prince, for a new king?"

"No," Rigel explained. "So long as you're _in_ the line, doesn't matter if your dad is the King's son or your mum is his daughter, or grand, etc."

"So what's the problem? Why'd something go wrong in the Realm?" Sebastian wondered.

"Same reason something's wrong here, with us?" Magnus countered. "The Leprechaun King they have now is a Halfblood."

"HE IS?!" The boys all squeaked in surprise. Tweaky threw a platter of dinner rolls up and yelped.

"Don't doos that!" Tweaky clutched his chest.

"So who's the king now?" Ewan asked.

"Deoradhán Muadhnait, my great-something-granda'," Rigel answered, with a snort. "Also the last supposed Part-Leprechaun to attend Hogwarts a thousand years ago, and the cause of all this shite! I've never even _met_ him, you know."

"HANG ON!" Most of them exclaimed, and the Elves all stopped to listen this time. "He's over a thousand years old?!" Rónán asked.

"Leprechauns are pretty much immortal," Rigel shrugged. "Pureblood ones, that is. Tha's why they have to be careful about having so many children."

"But he's a Halfblood?" Magnus wondered. "Right?"

"So Mam said," Rigel replied. "I didn't have time to check it all out."

"_Make _time," Magnus mused, "This doesn't sound right. Something about it bothers me."

"YOU?!" Rigel smirked. "You think _**I **_wanna be the bloody king?! Gods, I'd have to rule for...centuries!" He gasped, as it seemed to hit him that he was going to live a very long time, too. "Merlin's pants! You'd all be dead and gone before I even got a chance to come back to say hello!" Rigel ranted. "SONNY!"

"Sir?"

"Can you call my house, get our Elf, and see if he can send the family album on over?" Rigel asked nicely. "If he can't get to it, you can go in and get it." He handed him a small key from his rucksack, after digging for a while. "That should get you in. There should be some Butterbeer in the ice box, too! Help yourself."

Sonny vanished at once, smiling brightly.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead and borrow my Elf," Rónán grinned. "It's fine!"

"You's is not getting' much houseworks done," Tweaky reminded them.

"'homework,' yes thanks," Magnus sort of whined. "For DADA, we're to practice offensive Charms, and Defensive Hexes to demonstrate Wednesday.

"Not in my kitchens!" Several of the Elves yelled.

About then, Sonny reappeared in a POP! with a large leather bound album and a case of Butterbeer. There was plenty for everyone. "Guys, that's the real..."

Rónán choked on his.

"...hard stuff," Rigel finished.

"You're smuggling alcohol now?" Sebastian smiled.

"Why not?" Rigel shrugged, taking a long swig. He burped. "Ah, tha's tha stuff! Hey, I _am_ a Leprechaun, all right? Alcohol is one of the four food groups, along with chocolate, sugar, and fruit."

"Yeah, tha's our problem," Magnus smiled, but he _did_ like the Butterbeer. "Let's get to it," he decided.

"Here?" Rigel asked.

"Why not?" Magnus shrugged. "Plenty of room, and better light!"

"Plus, we knows lotsa answers," Tweaky corrected Ewan's report on proper wrist movement. "We elveses loves housework!" (No one corrected him.)

There was one more small problem, however. As the boy's homework progressed, so did the Elves' tipsiness. Had it not been for Rónán's keen nose, dinner might have been burnt, and the boys had to take over as Elves began singing – then dropping. The boys stashed them under the sinks to sleep it off.

"We should get them drunk more often," Magnus commented, checking the potatoes and chickens. "They actually spiced it up quite nicely." He smacked his lips. "Is there any bleu cheese and Tabasco? We can make dip!"

"We've made _several _already," Rigel grunted, hauling Sonny to his favorite sink.

"Buffalo sauce!" Magnus then said.

"If you can find it, I can bring it down!" Rónán declared proudly, his wolf ears pricking up.

"How do you get sauce out of a buffalo?" Sebastian asked.

"No, no, no," Magnus explained, as he began putting it together.

"How do these things work?" Ewan wondered, as they set the food out on the four worktables. It was quite the spread, with roasted chickens, tureens full of dip, celery and carrot sticks, and of course, small side salads and rolls.

"No idea?" Sebastian said.

"Hmmm," Magnus thought about it. It reminded him of a very old science fiction show, the way the food vanished in blue light. He pulled out his wand and tapped the table. "Energize!" He said, and the world vanished into a sparkle of blue light.

When the boys got their bearings again, it was, to say the least, embarrassing.

Magnus was sitting in the middle of the Slytherin table, in a dirty apron, along with dinner. Ewan was at the Gryffindor table, and Rigel at the Hufflepuff table. Sebastian had materialized at the Ravenclaw table, while Rónán had appeared, somehow, right in front of Headmaster Weasley.

"Trouble in the kitchens, boys?" Hugo smiled.

Orion snorted. "Well, at least they followed orders, FOR ONCE!" He snapped. "Boy, pass me that sauce, will you?"

"Tell me, Garçon, where are the Elves?" Harry had to ask.

"They're, ahhh, very tired, sir!" Rónán replied.

At the Slytherin table, Adams looked disgusted. Bott was laughing, though, as were the rest of the older students who had at least once scoffed with the Hufflepuff Firsties and knew a good thing when they saw it. Bott gave Magnus a Galleon. "Let it never be said that Bott didn't tip well!"

With a wave of his wand, Hugo sent the boys to the usual spot at the end of the Hufflepuff table, where their friends were waiting. The Headmaster studied the Firsties, who'd been joined by a couple of others. "There just aren't as many Firsties as there used to be," he mused, dipping a chicken wing. "This is excellent!"

"The Elves didn't make this," Madame Iceni observed. "What is this red sauce?"

"Buffalo chicken and bleu cheese," Harry answered, "An American specialty. Seems that Gove is somewhat international?"

"You can say that again," Orion sighed. "A bit _too_ international, if you get my meaning?"

At the Hufflepuff table's end, the boys were eating, and whispering conspiratorially.

"Well, the good news is, we raked in enough in tips to buy a crate of apples," Ewan smiled.

"So, we're on tonight, Mag?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, you and Liam better come, too," Magnus agreed. "And don't tell _anyone_!"

"Me too?" Rhys Geary asked.

"_Especially _you," Rigel nodded at him, "My Goblinoid friend!"

"Ist dis ein...one of dis not-human dings?" Erik asked.

"It's a part-human _thing_, yes," Rónán nodded. "Almost. Think we better call the Twins?"

"Got it," Rigel went to get them.

"But since the rest of you are, or could be in on it, we need you, too," Magnus explained.

"Something's _wrong_, isn't it?" Garrett Alcott sighed. "What with the list thing? Them watching us? What'll I do? All the water's frozen at Durmstrang this time o'year!"

"You're not an arctic seal?" Aaron Jordan asked him.

"You two been comparing notes?" Rigel asked of Ewan. "Hell! No one's _going_ to Durmstrang!"

"Durmstrang?" The Twins wondered, as they had arrived with Rigel.

"But it's a nice platz...place!" Erik insisted, "Maybe wir can visit?"

"_Maybe_ we can export product!" The Twins mused.

"Sounds OK," Laddie Lawrence of Gryffindor, their newcomer, commented. He hadn't touched the buffalo chicken, though, but was demolishing a salad. Then he blinked, feeling at his eye. "Oh _bollocks,_ I've lost a lens!" Of course, he had to explain to many of them what a contact lens was.

Rónán, however, got a good look at his eye. It was golden, and the pupil and iris were very, _very _strange looking. He sniffed. Laddie froze, looking afraid of him.

"Dont' ask, don't tell," Rónán shrugged. "Personally, I don't care for goat meat. Now I know why you kept a distance from us, always sitting downwind in COMC class?"

"Y-you're not...a...?" Connor Poynter wondered.

Laddie sighed, running a hand through his thick, curly dark hair. He briefly exposed a slightly pointed ear. "Me great-granda' were, and it's mostly bred out, but fer me eyes, hair, an' ears," he offered, blushing. "And my...my..."

"Tail," Aaron supplied helpfully, as several eyebrows went up. A few of the boys leaned around Laddie, but there was no tail to be seen.

"Do yeh mind?!" Laddie snapped. "'course you can't _see_ it!"

"This is _beyond _coincidence," Rigel shook his head in wonder. "We've got more 'parts' here _now_ than in the last hundred years put together!"

"But, why this eye thing, and disguise?" Rhys asked slowly, having found the contact lens and handed it back. "You are a very handsome boy, Laddie?"

No one took it wrong, as the sincere look on the little Goblinoid's face was just heartbreaking.

_He asked for plastic surgery,_ Magnus recalled.

"Tha's what _we_ kept telling him," Aaron said, "For the first week, he wouldn't take a shower with us. Always did it at night, alone. I thought he was just embarrassed, you know."

"Mon ami," Sebastian reached over to pat his hand. "Your great-grandfather or someone was a full blood Faun, no?"

Laddie nodded slowly, staring down at his plate. "Gran met him in Greece, on holiday once."

Rigel plonked his head on the table. "We'll talk about it tonight, 'round midnight, kitchen, the usual. Welcome to the club, Laddie," he sighed, as they finished up with dinner. When everyone was done, the boys all 'beamed down' to the kitchens with the dirty dishes.

"We made a bloody mess," Ewan commented, taking in the piles of dishes.

"Hell with this," Rigel snorted, casting a Spell that sent the dishes to washing themselves. "_That _much, I _did_ get from the Weasleys!"

"Genes," Magnus wondered. "Deartháir, later we have to study your album. And go and get that book you had, right then? About magical genetics?"

"Why?" Rigel wondered. "We know I'm not a Weasley, remember? And the fact that I'm part-Leprechaun _**is **_our problem!"

"Maybe," Magnus wondered, as they began drying and putting up dishes. He dropped a platter, breaking it, but didn't seem to care. "This just makes me _angry_!" He then spluttered.

"So fix it?" Sebastian blinked. "Reparo!" He waved his wand, and did just that.

"Not _that_!" Magnus snapped. "ANOTHER one! _Another _hybrid, like us, _hiding_! What is _wrong _with these people, terrorizing kids like us?"

"Yeah, it's not Laddie's fault that his Gran dallied with a randy goat!" Rigel grinned.

"That's not funny," Ewan mumbled.

"'course it is!" Rigel laughed. "You know how Fauns are!" Apparently no one did, as they all gave him a blank stare and shook their heads.

"Maybe she loved him," Sebastian then added in a dreamy tone. "Greece, a beach, the sea, clouds..."

"Yeah, save it fer Paris, Precious," Rónán rolled his eyes, mimicking vomiting, "_How_ romantic!"

"Exactly," Magnus sniffed. "Who _cares,_ and what's it anyone's business, if they love each other? Rónán, _you_ know how dangerous it is for werewolves to have kids? But if they love each other, isn't it _worth _it? Just because you have funny eyes, or a tail, or even horns, does that mean you don't have the same rights as the 'pretty people'?"

There was a rustle of cloth, and Harry appeared near the icebox. "You're right, Magnus," he agreed, "And I know a lady, a dear friend, that I just lost not long ago who would be so _very_ proud of you. She spent her life fighting for rights for non-humans, and hybrids, just like you, boys." He turned to Rigel, and Magnus saw at once that something was wrong. "Your Gran, Hermione. She'd be so proud of you," Harry repeated, patting Rigel's shoulder.

"Thank you, sir," Rigel said in a small voice.

Magnus looked again. Yes, there it was...Harry's hair was much grayer, and the glasses were different. He was clutching a wand, but it wasn't the wand that his professor always used. This one was longer, thinner, and with decorative knobs up the shaft. And while he looked pretty much the same, as to fool the other boys, Magnus knew he was seeing Old Harry, and not Henry Griffiths in disguise. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of the old man coming to Hogwarts again. After all, Old Harry almost never left his lair.

"They weren't kind to her, some of them, in my day," Harry went on. "And there was this little boy, once, to whom _**I**_ wasn't very kind, either. They were Muggleborns, which was the problem back in my day, you see. The Purebloods, and even the Halfbloods, like me, could be very cruel to them. When Voldemort was taking over, a lot of them were killed," he sighed. "I remember when they made Professor Remus J. Lupin quit his job, because he was a werewolf. I remember how they hurt Teddy Lupin so badly,when he came here. And maybe, just maybe, Rónán, your old Grandfather, Francis, would have had a better life if they'd accepted him as a boy." Harry shook his head. "Students are coming in now, hidden in Concealment and Cosmetic Charms, even wanting plastic surgery, trying to hide what they are. This can't go on, boys. It _has _to stop."

"Well, _we've_ not got it so bad, sir?" Rigel wondered, but his tone was unsure.

"_Don't _you?" Harry sighed again, sitting down heavily at the worktable that beamed things up to the Gryffindor table above. Magnus got him some tea. "You're always watched. Your progress is reported to the Ministry three times as often as human students' is. All your special medical needs are logged and reported, too. I just talked to the Fat Lady of Gryffindor Tower, boys. Poor little Lawrence has Hexed his bed curtains shut, guess you could say he's locked himself in his room, since dinner – crying. I almost never cried," his voice drifted, "Not even when I was almost killed. Not even when I found that damn mirror. I never _could_."

The boys all exchanged looks.

"I cried, the second night I was here," Rónán admitted.

"Sir?" Ewan asked in a low voice. "Are they going to expel Rigel tonight? Because if they are, _I'm_ leaving!"

"Me too!" The others all agreed. Rigel looked shocked.

"We'll go to Tokyo, or the American Academy if we have to! Erik said Durmstrang was nice!" Magnus added firmly. "I read about the other schools all over the world, in **Hogwa**-..."

"DON'T SAY IT!" Rigel snapped, but he was smiling.

And then, in an act which shocked Magnus, Harry reached out to take his hand. He looked at the Leprechaun ring, and patted it. The ring didn't react. "You can't go to Tokyo, nice as it is. You don't even _speak _Japanese." Then he looked at Rigel. "Your daddy loved Niamh very much," he then said, "So very much. And she loved him. They_ still _do. Your great-grandfather Draco and I were such arses, though. You know how they say 'anyone who can show just cause...why these two should not be married...speak now or forever hold your peace' at weddings?"

The boys all nodded.

"It took ten Aurors to break up the fight when everyone who knew started yelling at the Father," Harry sighed. "It was a fiasco. Poor Draco even had a coronary! I don't think that Friar Ignatius ever forgave us."

"Yes, I did," The Fat Friar said, as he drifted through the door. "If you'd _listened_ to my tale, Harry, you'd know that I _can't_ carry a grudge. If I did, I'd have gone back after seven years and leveled the monastery for expelling me." He joined them at table. "Sometimes we hurt the ones we love," the Friar explained. "It's human nature, I think. Perhaps being only part-human helps negate that trait?" He smiled at the boys. "I hated my father, the monk who raised me, you know, for what he did to me. And I hated Godric Gryffindor, for taking me away from my friend, Robert, and what his actions of taking me put Robert through. But in the end, it all worked out. In the end, I forgave them all. As _you_ must, boys, when others are unkind to you," the Friar concluded. "Do not let hate poison you!"

"With what I saw at their table tonight, Father, I don't think you have to worry about it," Harry smiled. "In my day, you'd have _never_ seen a Slytherin sitting at the Hufflepuff table, or anyone from any other House at any other table, for that matter. Sometimes I wonder if we should retire the Sorting Hat? Just make everyone a 'Hogwarts Child' and let them rotate dormitories from term to term? Why they didn't do that after the War, I don't know. It would have made such _good_ sense to do so. Boys, in the short time I've known you lot, I think I can say I'm just as proud of you as I was with my own boys so long ago."

"Thank you, sir," they all replied, as the door opened.

"Uncle?" Orion Malfoy asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Orion, why do you ask?" Harry replied.

Orion stared at him. "You don't look so good, Uncle?"

"Just feeling my age tonight, 'Rion," Harry replied, looking misty, "It'll pass. Are the late roses still blooming, I wonder?" And with that, he headed for the loading bay doors to leave.

"That was odd?" Orion wondered, sitting down and taking his son on his lap. "They were blooming _this morning_, the Red Snow Queens? Why _wouldn't _they still be?"

"_This _is odd," Rigel mumbled.

"Son, I'm sorry," Orion told him, "But I promised that you'd not get special treatment here. At Hogwarts, I have to be your teacher, not your father, here."

"I know," Rigel admitted. "I _was_ being a little arse, wasn't I, Da'?"

"Language!" Orion corrected him, but he did smile.

"I don't treat your sister, Helene, any differently, son, and I miss little Aldebaran. Your mother is the lucky one, home alone with him."

"Al's the lucky one, he's _human_, Da',' Orion added.

Magnus raised an eyebrow again. "Rigel, to be the next King, you have to be proven to carry the blood of King Deoradhán Muadhnait, right?"

Both Malfoys nodded.

"You said that your baby brother, Aldebaran, was tested by the MacPhersons, and they say he's human, right?" Magnus asked.

Again, the Malfoys nodded. "Al got his 'y' gene from me, the Malfoy line, just like Rigel did, but Al also got his 'x' gene from his mum, who got one of her's from her human mum."

"So they use special Leprechaun spells to find out the genetics?" Magnus nodded.

"What are you getting at, Magnus?" Orion wondered, genuinely curious.

"Yeah, 'cuz you lost us," Sebastian sighed.

"Someone doesn't want Rigel to succeed King Deoradhán, obviously," Magnus explained, holding up his hand, "And like Rigel said, if he's over a thousand years old, he might die soon?"

"Unlikely," Orion shook his head. "I've never know a Leprechaun to die naturally. Killed, yes, but to die? No. I think he just wants to retire in peace."

"But the King is a Halfblood Leprechaun, isn't he?"

"So the legend says," Rigel nodded, "Or so Mam tells me."

"But we know that Rigel is half-Leprechaun, because of his mum, and how he looks, right?"

"Duh!" Rigel laughed, holding up his ring. He gave his hair a shake. "You can't be human with _ears _like this!"

"But, Mrs. Malfoy, you said, her mum is half-human?" Magnus persisted. "It's like your Weasley side, Rigel! You didn't get _their _genes! What if you _didn't_ get Muadhnait genes? You said you worked it out, and you said you were a Malfoy-MacPherson! If there's an "L" gene on that side, you're clear! Then you're NOT IN THE LINE OF SUCCESSION!" Magnus smiled.

"We can use my family album to look it up!" Rigel crowed. "If you're right, Mag, I don't have to be King!" He exclaimed happily. "I CAN'T be King! Maybe Mam can test me to see which 'L' gene I got!"

"No, wait, boys," Orion put in, "Gran MacPherson is _fully_ human, remember?"

"Even _better_!" Magnus grinned.

"Homework first, then private research," Orion reminded them. "If you do the homework every night, you don't get _behind_! Took us three years to figure that one out," he confessed, giving his son a squeeze.

"Equal treatment, sir?" Ewan grinned at him.

"I could use a hug," Rónán added.

"Don't push it, Scott, Greyson," Orion smirked at him. Then he looked around. "Where'r the Elves?"

As if in answer, there came a snore from under a sink.

"They just work _so _hard, Da'," Rigel nodded sincerely, "They deserve a break!"

"Well, you lot don't!" Orion reminded them. "If we're scoffing tonight, I'd suggest you all get the homework done, get a nap, and then start plotting out how Rigel _can't _be King!"

"And I have to cook something to eat tonight!" Magnus fretted.

"There goes the homework," Ewan laughed, as Professor Malfoy headed out.

"Think he saw the beer?" Sebastian fretted.

"I'm sure he smelled it," Rigel shrugged. "It's not a big deal, for _me_, that is."

"We need a Ravenclaw fer this," Rónán decided. "That family tree stuff made me head hurt!"

"Wait until we really get into it," Rigel warned him. "When your grandparents are almost immortal, there's a LOT of offspring! And I thought the Weasley/Potter branch of the family was _huge_!"

"Question is, if no one wants to be King," Magnus wondered, getting up to rummage about in the cupboards, "Why get upset, or not want the next in line to become King? Who'd stand to gain by Rigel NOT being King?"

"Someone who likes the King they have?" Sebastian suggested. "They must like him, since no one's tried to do away with him yet?"

"There are quite a few delicate relationships with other non-and-part-Human races," Rigel nodded. "Maybe someone from one of them is worried that I wouldn't like them, too, like King Deo does?"

"Great, now all we need to do is find out who that is, and convince him what a great kid you are, Rigel!" Rónán laughed.

"I wonder," Magnus added, as he began gathering ingredients, "We've got a Werewolf, a Werebear, a Veela, a Sprite, a Faun, a Goblinoid, a Selkie, and what else?"

The boys all thought about it.

"And me," Rigel finally added.

Magnus looked into the ice box and gasped. There was an empty tray with only biscuit crumbs staring back at him. "And a Centaur!"

"But Aries isn't a student with us?" Ewan reminded him.

"Isn't he?" Magnus countered. "He's got a _wand_ now! He's been here. He _likes_ us." He gave it a moment to soak in. "AND, his father _allows_ him to hang out with us!"

"That one right there is the surprise," Rigel agreed. "Anti-social as that lot is!"

"But Mag," Rónán asked, "_When_ did he bring the tray back? It's been a while!"

"It doesn't do a child any good to get his first wand, and not be trained how to use it," Magnus grinned at them. "Aries brought the tray back when he came back to pinch Danny's potions book, and bring back Rónán's charms book!" Magnus pointed at the loading bay doors.

"Oh _boy!_" Rigel groaned. "Aries! The Herd! Forgot all _about _them!"

"Hang on," Ewan screwed up his face in thought, "If it's Aries, he never took Herbology or Astronomy books?"

"Why would a Centaur, who lives wild in nature, _need _those?" Rigel countered, "Astrology, and Astronomy, are their strongest suits!"

"But he _can't _have learned all that stuff by now?" Rónán gasped. "Can he?"

"What if he just _copied_ the books?" Magnus snapped his fingers, and a case of Guinness appeared on the table in a flash of pale green light. The boys all screamed and jumped back.

Surrounding the large crate of beer were sacks of flour, boxes of chocolate, several red mesh bags of citrus fruit, bags of sugar, and a stack of aluminum baking pans.

"M-M-M-Mag...?" Ewan stammered, "D-did you d-do that?"

Rigel grabbed Magnus' hand at once. "DO NOT snap your fingers,_ ever_ again!" Rigel told him bluntly. He sniffed. "You smell something?"

Just about then, Magnus noticed that his robe was on fire! His wand, it seemed, had ignited!

"This is what happens when amateurs combine wand magic and Leprechaun magic," Rigel warned him, as four Aquamenti Charms hit him.

"Thanks,_ terribly_!" A sodden Magnus shook himself. Well, I didn't mean TO, now, DID I?!" Magnus snapped. "You _could_ have warned me! Now dry me off!"

"How was _**I**_ supposed to know you were connected to the Realm's power source now?" Rigel exclaimed, casting a Drying Charm. He paused. "Sorry, Deartháir, I should have guessed."

"'s'OK," Magnus nodded. "Now what do we do with all this haul?"

"Make COG cakes, _obviously_," Sebastian suggested.

"What's all the noise in here?" Miss MacMillan demanded, coming through the door, "Are those dishes done yet?" She froze. "Where did all these groceries come from?" She asked the boys.

"Out of thin air, Miss?" Rónán offered.

"Gamp's Elemental Laws," she informed him, "You can't make something out of nothing. It had to have come from _somewhere_!"

"You mean, like the Universe, Miss?" Sebastian tried to change the subject.

"No, God did that," MacMillan countered, "Nice try! The food, _boys_?"

"Well, it's like...erm...yeh see...," Rigel ran a hand through his hair, pulling a face. "Help me out here, guys?"

"MERLIN'S ARSE! You're a bloody _Leprechaun_!" Miss MacMillan gasped, backing up against the sinks. She bumped a tap. Water came on. She screamed and jumped, whacking her head on a cabinet.

"Half," Rigel corrected her.

"Oh my! Oh dear! Oh, oh, oh," MacMillan stammered, rubbing her head, "This is bad! This is _really_ bad, **Rigel**! Does you _mum_ know?!"

They all just stared at her.

"Right, stupid question," Miss MacMillan seemed to be working herself into a tizzy.

**WOOORF!**

A loud staccato bark snapped her out of it. Rónán then changed back into a boy, after MacMillan had a moment to stare at the small wolf in front of her. "Did _that_ bother you, Miss?" He then asked her.

"Well, erm, no," MacMillan confessed, "But we know all about _you,_ Ronnie," she shook her head, "Sorry, me little brother's name! That's not shocking at all."

"Then what _is_?" Rónán pressed her.

"Could be that you're _naked_?" Magnus whispered to him.

Rónán turned very pink and grabbed up his clothes, but MacMillan managed to hit him with a quick Switching Spell and dress him a flash.

"Hang on!" Ewan piped up, "_You_ have a werewolf in your family?"

"It pops up from time to time in the male line," MacMillan nodded. "My great-great-great-grandfather was infected right after the War."

"Ronnie needs to have training, Miss," Rónán reminded her, fishing in his pocket for a business card; he gave her one.

"You carry werewolf business cards?" Sebastian asked.

"Don't you carry _Veela_ ones?" Rónán was quite serious.

"I'm being silly, aren't I?" MacMillan asked, moving to touch Rigel's hair. He nodded. She exposed his ear again, and touched the tip. "Boy, if you were just about five years older! I'm sorry, Rigel," she added.

Rigel blushed. "It's OK, Miss. I guess, as our Prefect, you _should _know."

"I just never thought I'd ever see a real _Leprechaun_, though!" She shook her head.

"Bit disappointing, isn't he?" Ewan joked. Rigel smirked at him.

"You've _seen_ me, a _lot_ of me," Rigel joked about the showers.

"No Cosmetic Charms this time, though?" MacMillan offered, and Rigel nodded. "They hurt, don't they?" Again, the boy nodded. She ruffled his hair again. "I understand why you had to hide, now," she apologized again. "Sometimes, we MacMillans _do_ tend to leap to conclusions*." Then she looked at Rónán. "Ronnie's enrolling at _**White Wolf Prep**_ next year," she admitted.

"Full moon's right after Halloween," Rónán reminded her, "If he wants to, he can go with me and Teddy!" He then seemed to think of something. "Is that why you watch us so close?" He asked, and MacMillan nodded.

"It's not easy, taking care of a baby brother who's a werewolf," she informed them, "Until they get old enough for the full dose of Animous Potion, and master the voluntary change, it's … it's..."

"Traumatic," Rónán sighed, nodding. "I know, Miss." MacMillan sat down, and surprisingly, pulled him into a hug.

"We don't talk about it much, you know, that silly Pureblood thing," MacMillan explained, "Some of our family's friends haven't been very kind to Ronnie about it. I guess that's why they want to send him away, so he'll not be in school with any of our friends' kids." She thought about it a bit. "I guess that's why I sort of keep an eye on _you_. Why did _you_ come here, Rónán?"

"Because I wanted to see what the human world was like," Rónán replied.

"And?" She pressed him.

Rónán sighed. "I think Ronnie's gonna be happier with his...our...own kind, Miss," he admitted, "Unless he gets lucky, like I did," Rónán looked around at his friends. "It's been over a century, and some people still don't want us around."

Magnus' eyebrow went up.

"What?!" The boys all asked him.

"Just an idea. It might be nothing," Magnus mused, glancing at Rigel, "Miss, you should know, we have to tell Professor Potter and Headmaster Weasley about this."

"They know?!" MacMillan wondered.

The boys all nodded. "Yeah, we slipped up," Rigel admitted. "We're having a midnight meeting in here tonight. I think you should come, Miss."

"Something tells me I better not tell Marge or anyone about this?" MacMillan asked. The boys all nodded. "And something else tells me I might not like it, if they find out that_ I_ know?" The boys all shook their heads. She seemed to think about something else for a moment. "Does this have anything to do with all the part-humans we have this term? I don't think Hogwarts has had a Leprechaun in about a thousand years?"

"And here I am!" Rigel waved his hands in the air.

"But what's the problem with it, then?" She asked. "You all seem to be fitting in? We've got a Goblin boy, even? And that one boy, who's a seal-person?"

"Garrett Alcott, the Selkie," Sebastian reminded her.

"He's _cute_!" MacMillan agreed with a sigh. "Why are all you boys _just_ Firsties?"

"Think we better mention the new one?" Ewan asked.

"NO!" They all told him.

"Well, I don't see the problem with it, honestly," MacMillan repeated.

"Tha's because you have firsthand experience, Miss," Rónán sighed again.

"Why don't you call me 'Marjorie'?" She suggested. "'Miss' makes me feel like my mother!"

They all laughed at that.

"I'll see you around midnight," she then promised them, "I see you're hard at work here? It _is_ brighter and roomier in here, isn't it?" She then gave Rónán a peck on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

"Suck-up," Rigel snorted.

"You're just _jealous_, that _you _don't have a _tail_!" Rónán countered, wagging his.

"That was a bad slip-up," Rigel admitted.

"Not as bad as _mine_," Rónán added with a grin.

"'Happier with your own kind'," Magnus mumbled, but the others didn't seem to hear him as they began trying to finish their homework. "I think we'll serve COG cake tonight," he mused.

"Mag, I _love_ you!" Rigel reminded him.

"_Do_ yeh, now, Deartháir?" Magnus came back at him in a convincing Irish brogue.

Rigel blinked.

Endnotes:

*Ernie MacMillan jumped to the conclusion that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin in COS.

Rónán

Deartháir


	17. Chapter 17-Out and About

**17 – Out in the Open**

After their nap, the boys set in to making use of their magically acquired groceries. Rigel was thrilled, to say the least. As they knew that they'd be having quite a few guests this time – anyone who knew about Rigel, or anyone that the boys suspected who knew – they made several cakes.

The first guest to arrive was Gran Longbottom via Floo, accompanied by their Herbology Professor and Head of House, Pamona. Gran had brought several dozen eggs. As they set in to baking, some of the Portrait characters began showing up in the sitting room picture that Sonny had procured.

"I have never seen such a flagrant disregard for rules," Professor Snape complained.

"Ah! But doesn't it smell lovely, Severus?" Dumbledore commented. Snape shrugged.

Then he noticed the way that Magnus and Rigel were dressed – in their woolen tunic-like shirts and shorts, while the other boys were dressed in their black and gold pyjamas. "Why don't you just rent a billboard?" He sniffed.

"Nice to see you, dear," Hannah said to Neville, who had, in fact, just left his frame at her house to join her.

"You're enabling them, Love," Neville reminded her.

"I can think of worse things to be doing," Minerva McGonagall added, "Like midnight duels, sneaking out, chasing dangerous artifacts, raising baby dragons, or even wrecking the Ministry of Magic offices?" She looked primly at Neville, who blushed.

"So who all's coming?" The Fat Lady asked, having just appeared from the top edge of the portrait and taking a seat by Dumbledore.

"Everyone who knows," Cedric Diggory answered, "Say, this is a really nice frame!"

"Evening, all!" Headmaster Weasley greeted them, as he arrived in a rather garish dressing gown and long nightcap.

"I take it that those Firsties of mine were invited?" The Fat Lady asked, "They sneaked out with a girl not long ago!"

"A GIRL?!" The Hufflepuffs all gasped.

"Finnigan," Rigel shrugged. "Figures."

As the boys were just putting their first cakes into the ovens, the Weasley Twins arrived – through the loading bay doors. Fiona Finnigan, along with the three Gryffindor First Year boys, were with them. They all gasped when they saw the teachers.

"Intelligence meeting?" The Twins asked, in their usual stereo.

"How did you get out?" The Fat Lady wondered teasingly.

"Carefully executed Levicorpus Charms," Fabian answered.

"It's a _long_ way down, out the window," Gideon added.

"Seeing as how the _door_ won't open!" All the Gryffindors said together!

"You could have used a rope," Snape suggested, "Out the window, down to a section of roof, over to an air vent above the seventh floor left corridor, and down through the ceiling. Your predecessors, another set of Twins, were quite adept at that!"

"Why didn't we...-" - "-...think of that?" The Twins laughed.

"I remember my First Year," Hugo smiled, "You could go out the window, slide down a gutter, land on the roof, slide down it, and use the broken window on the fifth floor to get in!"

"How many more students are sneaking out tonight?" Snape persisted.

"Only them what know, or might know, sir," Magnus answered, just as Daniel Birken and Liam Creevey arrived with Marjorie MacMillan. She patted Rónán's head, dusting the flour out of his hair.

As the boys set in to making icing, or frosting (it led to a debate on the proper term), Sonny crawled out from under his sink and began mixing a potion to treat his hangover.

"Where did all this Guinness come from?" McGonagall asked.

"I...erm...sort of...well, I..._summoned_ it?" Magnus wheedled. "From somewhere?"

"He accidentally used Leprechaun magic," Rigel shrugged. "It happens."

"I just KNEW IT!" Fiona exclaimed happily.

Snape palmed his face. Dumbledore laughed. "And how did Magnus _do_ that?"

"He's the Ambasadóir," Rigel shrugged again, showing them their rings. "That's Gaelic for 'ambassador'."

"We _know_ what it means," Snape sighed again.

"Wicked!" The Twins gasped. "Now, about the matter of your delinquent account,..." - "...Cousin, which was paid in vanishing gold?"

Rigel dug around in his pocket and handed them several gold coins. "Keep it," he grinned. "Sorry, couldn't resist the trick!"

"He's a Leprechaun, all right," McGonagall smiled.

"Hence our problems," Hugo reminded them.

About then, the door opened, and Madame Iceni arrived – with Connor Poynter and Lucas Bole. She placed a small bottle of clear liquid on the table, as the boys went to help with cake icing and mixing the second batch.

"Boudica," Snape nodded to her, pointing out the bottle.

"Severus," Madame Iceni nodded back, "Can't take any chances, now, can we?"

"Veritaserum?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "You're going to _use_ that?"

"If need be," Madame Iceni nodded again. "Of course, Bole knows about Malfoy. Poynter doesn't. He suspects, but he has no proof."

"Well, he knows _now_," Snape sighed.

"No, he _doesn't_," Madame Iceni shook her head.

"But we just said..." Snape persisted.

"He's _deaf_, remember?" Madame Iceni reminded them.

Rigel looked up from his mixing bowl, batter all over his face. He then moved to pull out a stool for her. "Ma_dame_?" He said, as the boys began laying out table settings while Magnus directed his pans into the oven with his wand.

"So, Erik and Aaron say you do this a lot?" Fiona wondered.

"Pretty much," Sebastian smiled at her. She smiled back. Rigel smacked Sebastian's arm.

"Turn it _off,_ Precious!" He reminded him.

"You do?" Laddie Lawrence asked, looking all around. "I've never seen the kitchen before. I always wondered where it was?"

"You could have komm any Zeit...time," Erik reminded him.

"How many people are we feeding?" Daniel asked.

"Do you two know?" Hannah asked them bluntly.

"What, that Rigel's a Leprechaun?" Liam smiled.

Everyone palmed their faces.

Laddie looked rather stunned. He also looked to be in need of a shave, but no one pointed this out. Madame Iceni cocked an eyebrow at him, though.

"Is he _really_?" Laddie exclaimed, leaning over for a closer look. "I should have known."

"Well, now that _that's_ out," Orion Malfoy snorted, as he came in with the Ravenclaws: Garrett Alcott, Rhys Geary, and Helen Malfoy.

"You blew it, didn't you, Rigel?" Helene teased him. "I _knew_ you would!"

Madame Pomfrey arrived with Professor Stratton. "This better be good, I had to turn the Sixth Years over to a TA!" Stratton said. Then he saw Rigel, busily frosting a cake. "COG cakes at midnight? And beer?" He grabbed a bottle. "Guess he's a Leprechaun, after all then, I wonder?"

"Is there _anyone_ who _doesn't_ know?" Orion demanded. Everyone but Poynter just shrugged at him. Rigel nudged Connor, who was getting into making batter. When Connor looked up at him, Rigel moved his hair to show his ears. Connor just smiled, gave him a thumbs-up sign, and went back to icing his cake.

"So much for prejudice there," Dumbledore mused, just as the loading bay doors opened.

"Busted!" Harry announced, as Aries came down the ramp with Hagrid right behind him.

"Oh dear!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Not his _first_ visit," Harry pointed out. "Don't worry, 'Rion, he knows."

"How?!" Orion wondered. "Did you tell _everyone_?" He demanded of his son, who was, by now, helping the others to serve cake.

"Can't put one over on me," Hagrid shook his head.

"You humans aren't too bright, _are_ you?" Aries asked, which got everyone's attention. All the part-humans pointed at their noses. "Leprechauns smell like cinnamon, sugar, and shamrocks, if not alcohol!" He sniffed the air. "Why's there a goat in here?"

"Sorry I'm late!" The Friar said, as he wafted in. "Oh, I do miss eating!"

Erik and Aaron both nudged Laddie's ribs.

"Later," Laddie sort of coughed the word, looking directly at Aries, who nodded back.

Rigel burped.

"You let him drink beer?" Pamona asked Orion, pointing at Rigel, who was definitely enjoying his scoff.

"Of course we do," Niamh Malfoy answered, as the bay doors opened again and she entered. "I gather that you all know?" Everyone agreed. "Husband, I need a drink!" She added placidly.

"_We_ really need to plug that hole in the Perimeter," Hugo mumbled.

"Where's Al?" Orion asked.

"With Mum," Niamh replied, as Magnus handed her a plate – and a bottle.

"I see you've discovered some of your duties as ambasadóir?" She asked him.

"Yes, Ma'am," Magnus smiled.

"Which brings us to why we're all here," Orion pointed out, as everyone but Connor looked at him. "Our first order of business," he glared at the students, "Is the fact that you all know that Rigel is part-Leprechaun. What we have to decide is what to do about it!"

"There are a few options," Harry added, "We can Obliviate your memory of this fact. We could bind you all with an Unbreakable Vow to not tell, however, if you let it slip, well...it would be... _unfortunate_!"

"Very unfortunate!" The Twins agreed, "We _would_ be **dead**!"

"I think not!" Hugo exclaimed.

"A very strong Confundus Curse wouldn't be good enough," Harry went on, "Because you'd just go back to having a mystery, and trying to solve it again."

"Sir?" Fiona Finnigan raised her hand. Harry nodded at her. "I honestly don't see what the big deal is? I mean, Erik's a bear-boy, Ronnie over there's a werewolf, so who's going to even _care_ about another part-human?"

Rónán grinned at her getting his name wrong. As it was getting close to full moon again, he hadn't even bothered to try and look human – and no one seemed to care.

"If only it were that easy," Niamh smiled at her. "Child, you are wise beyond your years. However, my son being what he is, he has certain advantages – and certain dangers about him." Fiona shrugged in confusion, holding out her hands, as Sonny brought another round of cake and drinks.

"I have to be really careful with what I say," Rigel explained, "Leprechaun magic can go off when you're not even trying, and I could hurt someone."

"That why you didn't go out for Quidditch?" Aaron asked, and Rigel nodded.

"I have too many unfair advantages," Rigel went on. "I'm lucky, obviously, like the legends say. I kinda like, well, _pranks,_" he confessed, glancing at the Twins. "And I'm also...well, stronger than your average human."

"You smell fine to me?" Aries wondered.

"Not like _that_!" Orion corrected him. "Show them, son, they need to know."

Rigel sighed, put down his fork, and then lifted Ewan, stool and all, over his head with one arm.

"HEY!" Ewan yelped.

Rigel put him down.

"So here we are," McGonagall reminded them. "Fashion sense and dietary needs being the least of our problems, you that are new to this revelation should also know that Hogwarts used to accept all manner of part-humans, until a Leprechaun child nearly died here – due to abuse!"

"Or so the legend goes," Madame Iceni agreed, "I've heard that tale. So you're telling us it's true?"

"What's that about?" Several of the children asked, so McGonagall and Hugo summarized the story of King Deoradhán for them.

"Th-they were mean to him?" Rhys spoke up, looking as if he might burst into tears. "But...but no one is mean to us here?" He offered. "I like it here!"

"We have only one side of this thousand-year-old story," McGonagall reminded them all. "But think about it, children: if it were common knowledge to the whole school, don't you think your Houses might try and exploit your talents – those of you who have them?"

"They could try, Ma'am," Lucas Bole raised his hand, "But honestly, what good would that do anyone? The Professors who know would see it, and discount it, wouldn't they? I mean, I don't want to sound snobbish, but with a lake like this here, isn't it a good idea to have a Water Sprite around?"

"VERY!" Sebastian and Ewan both agreed.

Connor then raised his hand. "If you're talking about Rigel being a Leprechaun, well, he could have – and had good reason – to hurt me plenty before. But he never did. We weren't very nice to him in primary school, you know. But he never did anything to me, but for insults!"

"One wonders how effective throwing _words_ at a _deaf_ child could be?" Dumbledore mused.

"I can read lips, sir," Connor reminded them, "And I deserved it. I gave as good as I got."

"Yeh know," Rigel grinned at him, nudging his arm so that Connor would look at him, "Leprechauns love a good insult fest!"

Helene Malfoy made an indelicate sound. "We get lots of practice, trust me!" But she did smile at her brother.

"You mean...?" Magnus cut in, "All that's just...?"

"Good fun!" Rigel laughed, "Especially when you're so ugly that your parents have to hang a pork chop around your neck to get the dog to play with you!"

"HEY!" Rónán protested.

"There is one option..." - "...we've not mentioned," The Twins brought it up.

"And that would be?" Hugo asked.

"_Trust_ us," they shrugged.

"_Bad _idea," Snape snorted.

"Is it?" Hugo wondered. "As I recall, Leprechauns don't take vows of friendship lightly?"

"We do not," Niamh agreed, "And I sense no deception in this room."

"If they weren't my friends, Mam, I wouldn't have invited them," Rigel assured her, and that seemed good enough for his mother.

"Children," Hugo looked them all over, "Some of you, I am not concerned about. You have already proven that you can be trusted. Those of you new to this secret, however, need to understand this: if you let slip, and any harm comes to Rigel over it, it could be _very_ bad for you."

"No one wants an angry Leprechaun after him, trust me," Orion added, "And the Clan that Rigel belongs to is very possessive of him."

"Sir?" Aries spoke up, "I don't think any of the...hybrid...students would do that to Rigel," the Centaur colt offered, "It's not in our nature."

"But we've had Beings, such as Goblins and Elves, go to war before?" Hugo countered.

"That was then, this is now, sir," Aries explained. "You have a Goblin and an Elf together here, and a Werebear and Werewolf at the same table. Sworn enemies, no? And besides, Jupiter is near the Winter Triangle, and the star that is Rigel's namesake is very bright tonight.^" They all just looked at him. "What your ambasadóir has done here, sirs, and ladies, is bring them all together – even me! Perhaps this is what he was put here for, even though _his_ stars are now hidden by the light of day?"

"Do you have _any_ idea what he's on about?" Harry asked Orion.

"None, Uncle," Orion replied, "But it sounds good to me?"

Fiona raised her hand again. "But if Aaron and Connor knew, and they're humans, and didn't blow it, why would anyone else, then?" She asked. "Besides, who'd _believe_ us, anyway? I mean, how many people, especially kids, think someone's going to believe it when they say they saw a Leprechaun?"

"Rigel's a Leprechaun, you know," Connor informed her, having glanced at her.

"Fabulous grasp of the obvious, that one," Snape sighed, as Madame Pomfrey shoved one of Connor's crystals into his ear. He blushed.

"Sorry, Ma'am," he offered.

There was a flash of pale green light, and a short man with a violently red beard and red hair appeared at the bay doors. "Never trust directions from a woman!" He snorted, "Took a wrong turn at them rocks what look like b-..." He stopped, as Hagrid laughed. "Say now, an' yer a big one, aren't yeh?"

"He _always_ says that when he's late," Niamh explained, "Hello, Da'!"

"Do we even still _have_ a defense perimeter, gents?" Hugo asked Harry and Orion.

"Grandfather!" Rigel jumped up to greet him. They looked very much alike.

"Well now, I see yer finally lettin' yer good side get out, Boyo?" The odd little man observed, roughly hugging his grandson.

"Everyone, this is my grandfather, Ossian MacPherson! He's a _Leprechaun_!"

"Yeh _think_?!" Several of the children exclaimed.

"Say, is that cake what I _think_ it is, Boyo?" MacPherson asked, as Rigel got him a serving. "Tryin' ter get back into me will, are ya?"

"We made the cakes, Grandfather!" Rigel declared proudly. "I hoped you'd come!"

"Like _you're_ ever going to die, Da'," Niamh sniffed, as MacPherson sat down to enjoy his cake and beer. He seemed to _very_ much enjoy it, in fact!

"So," he observed of Magnus, "This is the human boy causin' all the ruckus?"

"Nice to meet you, sir!" Magnus smiled offered him his hand.

"Nice ring, Boyo," MacPherson pointed out. "So, I take it these are all the folks hereabouts who know about me favorite grandson?" He reached for another bit of cake. "I see they're at least keepin' ya well fed, Rigel?"

"Magnus sees to that," Hugo offered. "Pleased to see you, sir."

"Aye, an' you'd be the one what's up to expellin' me grandson, Head_master,_ are ya?"

"Rigel Malfoy will _not _be expelled," Hugo declared.

MacPherson laughed and got himself another bottle of beer. "Well, I'll be givin' yeh's this, yeh sure know how to set a spread, Headmaster!" He winked at Magnus. "But yer not worried about startin' a war, then?"

"WAR?!" The children all squeaked.

"So long as the Board of Governors doesn't find out, I don't see that we have a problem, do we?" Hugo replied.

MacPherson burped. "Pardon me! No, I don't think so, in _that_ respect, here. Say, isn't it a bit late fer the kiddies to be outta bed?"

"They're part of the problem, sir," Orion explained. "This is everyone who knows about Rigel."

"Well what'd yeh _do_, Boyo? Take out an ad in tha _**Prophet**_ an' tell the world?" MacPherson asked Rigel, "_Are _ya daft?! 't'were s'posed ter be a secret, don't'cha know?"

"No, and I don't look like a red pot scrubber, either!" Rigel retorted hotly.

"Shoulda slapped yer mother when you were born, yeh bealin' little son of a...-"

"**DA**!" Niamh cut him off, as MacPherson hugged his grandson again.

"Yer gettin'_outta_ practice, Boyo," the old man told him. He looked around at the shocked little faces. "What, yeh never heard good insults before?"

"They _still _haven't," Rigel mumbled.

"I heard that, me Boyo! _Good_ one! Ah, they'll not be up to hurtin' the boy, here, Niamh," MacPherson predicted, "Not unless they wanna end up on a spit, slow-cookin' o'er me campfire!" He laughed, giving Daniel a poke in the ribs, "Little apples jammed in their mouths, just like sucklin' piggies. Takes all day ter roast one, don't'cha know?"

Liam Creevey made a small sound and dropped his fork.

"He's _kidding_!" Rigel assured him. "_Aren't_ you?" He turned to the old man.

"Yesssss," MacPherson rolled his eyes. "Damn _dour _lot yeh all are! No sense o'humor, no good insults!" He took a closer look at them all. "Looks like most of yehs ain't _quite_ human, ere ya?" He stopped at Rhys. "Yer a cute little fella, fer a Goblin, that is? Niamh tells me yer the one what blew Rigel's cover? I worked _hard_ on that Spell yeh busted all ter bits, Boyo!"

"First hard work he's done this _century_!" Niamh added.

Harry and Orion both went on alert.

"He...he _wanted_ me to, sir!" Rhys squeaked.

"Yer not after his pot'o'gold, are ya?"

"NO, sir!"

"Not in league with that Gringotts lot, neither?"

"No, sir!"

"Swear on the Blood of Six Kings?" MacPherson asked.

"_Yes_, sir!" Rhys managed, more firmly this time, as if the old man had struck a nerve. He jumped up, went to a cupboard, and grabbed a meat cleaver. It immediately turned into a battle axe! MacPherson snapped his fingers, and fine and ornate blade set in a golden handle appeared in his hand.

All the teachers jumped up, wands at the ready, but Harry stopped them. "Wait!" He snapped. "This is important!"

"You _question_ my **atcha**, even **muut**, [honor] old **taat**?" Rhys demanded. Rhys swung his blade, and MacPherson's hit it in a loud KLANG! For a moment, they stared at one another, blades crossed.

Then MacPherson laughed. "Now there's an INSULT!" He grabbed up his beer again, and toasted Rhys, who was now quite worked up. He then shoved the bottle at Rhys, who drank a long swig from it, and then shoved it back at him. MacPherson finished it, and Rhys tossed the bottle to shatter in a fireplace.

"Well I _never_!" Hagrid gasped.

"Care to fill _us_ in?" Hugo looked stunned. Most of the children were now under the table!

"A fortunate accident," Harry nodded at Hagrid. "We thought Rhys might have been planted here, to collect information about, or possibly harm, Rigel."

"When MacPherson insulted his honor, his _atcha_," Hagrid explained, "Tha only way he could answer to that was to cross blades with him! Remember, he were raised by Goblins fer most o'his life!"

"Rigel is _my_ friend!" Rhys protested, "Even when he were just a roo, a friendly stranger, he invited me to his cave, let me stay in it, and gave me food and a bed! You think that about me, because I am a _Goblin_?" He accused them, throwing his blade down. "Wish I weren't," he added sadly.

"We _suspected_ something, because you _are_ a Goblinoid, Rhys," Harry explained. "With Rigel being the first Leprechaun here in a thousand years, that we know of, and you being what you are, we _had_ to be careful. Understand?"

"Why do _I_ want gold? You can't _eat _it?" Rhys countered. Then his luminous eyes went wide. "You thought they created me, to put me here, to capture Rigel?"

"We suspected it, yes," Orion confessed. "You're the first one in almost two hundred years, remember? It looked pretty suspicious. I'm sorry, Rhys," he apologized.

"Well, I _could_, you know," Rhys admitted. "I would have suspected me, too!"

"He's a Ravenclaw, all right," Stratton laughed.

"But if you insult my atcha again, old taat, I will chop you into little pieces and _piss_ on them!" Rhys spat.

MacPherson roared with laughter.

"That means he likes him," Lucas whispered to his friends.

"Let's _hope_!" Ewan gasped, looking a bit ill.

"He _was_ kidding about roasting us, wasn't he, Rigel?" Liam fretted again.

"YES!" They all shouted at him.

"I'm sorry too, Boyo," MacPherson offered, "But I had ter know! Leprechauns an' Goblins ain't always been on the best o'terms, ya know!"

"Well, at least that's one item off the list," Orion sighed, "We know that Rhys, through a garish display of Goblin honor here, isn't the threat to Rigel. But we still have to decide what to do about all of you students who know." He checked his watch. "We could be at this all night, you know."

"Send tha kids back ter bed," MacPherson waved his hand. "They won't tell a soul, will yehs?"

"No, sir!" All the children agreed.

"Besides, good _luck_ gettin' anyone ter believe it _if'n_ ya did!" MacPherson laughed.

"Well, that just sealed that," Orion sighed, but his wife was smiling.

"Brilliant, Da'!" She congratulated him.

"What just happened?" Liam asked.

"Nothing," Orion told him. "**You,** bed! That goes for the rest of you lot, too, except the Hufflepuffs!"

Hall passes were written, and confused but happy students filed out. All but one.

"Sir?" Laddie Lawrence asked, lingering at the door. "M-my parents weren't ...they didn't..." he fumbled, "_They_ know," he gestured at Magnus and the boys.

"Just tell them, Laddie," Aries spoke up.

"Let me guess," Madame Pomfrey sighed, "You're part-something, too, and trying to hide it?"

Laddie nodded. "How many other Firsties have to use Shaving Charms?" He then showed them his ears. Then he removed a contact lens.

"Looks like a goat's eye to me," Hugo nodded, leaning over for a better look. "Grandfather was a Faun, was he?" He smiled.

"My great one, sir," Laddie nodded. "I'm sorry. Mum and Dad told me not to tell."

"And what if you'd got sick?" Hagrid exclaimed, shaking a finger at him. "You jus' come with me, right up to Hospital,_ right now_!"

"Have fun with that!" Erik stuck his head back in the door.

"BED!" Orion shouted at him. Erik fled, laughing.

"The old man's right, Mag," Harry whispered to the boy, "This has got to stop."

"Well, this has certainly been a monumental waste of time," Snape sneered at them.

"Not completely," Dumbledore disagreed. "We now know that young Rhys isn't a threat to Rigel."

"And we know more about Goblin honor than we ever _wanted_ to!" McGonagall agreed.

"Plus, thanks to Da's clever spell, even if the kids talk, no one will believe them!" Niamh smiled at her husband. She embraced her daughter, then sent Helene on her way.

"Leprechaun magic," Hugo sighed, turning to Laddie. "So, what do we do about you, boy?"

"I...I don't know, sir," Laddie bowed his head. Hugo gave him a hall pass. "Go and find Caretaker Smith along the way, son. We'll talk about it later. Send him on down, won't you? There's a good lad!" He turned to Hagrid. "You can look him over tomorrow afternoon, Hagrid. It's late."

"Plus, we've still got one more thing to talk about," Magnus raised his hand.

"You're not in class, boy," Harry reminded him, just as Smith showed up.

"What's this, a student council meetin', or Astronomy makeups?" Smith grinned. Then the portly old man saw Mr. MacPherson. "Ossie, you old devil!" He greeted him, "Gods, man, you're as ugly as ever!"

"Rob, you old Squib!" MacPherson clapped him on the back.

"I'm not a bloody Squib, like me ol' great-granda' were!" Smith reminded him.

"Well, yeh damn _near_ are, bad as ya stink at magic!" MacPherson laughed.

"You two know each other?" Rigel spoke up.

"Met him when I were just a little boy," Smith explained. "Downtown, one Christmas. He were lost, and me and dad pointed him in the right direction!"

"Right to a liquor store, I'll wager," Niamh said, primly.

"Give us another beer, Mag," Rigel said.

"You've had two already!" Niamh yelled at him.

"Aw, Mamaí," Rigel whined.

"Malfoys do not whine," Orion reminded him. "Mr. Smith, what do you know about my son, and his grandfather here?"

"Looks like a bloody load'a Leprechauns ter me," Smith grinned.

"Test it," Rigel whispered.

"They are!" Ewan piped up.

"Oh, bollocks!" Smith laughed, "There ain't no such thing!"

"Works," Orion nodded.

"Sure an' it do!" MacPherson laughed. "Now, what's this other business we got?"

"That can wait, sir," Magnus yawned. "Now that we've cleared Rhys, I have to tell Professor Potter and them something else I've figured out." He looked at Aries. "Aries, do Centaurs have anything against Leprechauns?"

"Only when they're in the woods, playin' tricks," Aries grinned. "Sawed-off little, smelly..."

"Now _hold_ on!" MacPherson exclaimed, standing up on the table and looking down at Aries' backside. "How long you been here, Colt?"

"Have some more cake, and another _beer,_ won't you, Da'?" Niamh suggested. "Gone in the drink, he is!" She waved it off.

"I couldn't see o'er the bloomin' table, now, could I?" MacPherson protested. "Sawed off, am I, yeh broken-down old nag?"

"Yep, they like each other," Rigel nodded.

"As Magnus was saying," Harry cut in, glancing at Hagrid, "He's noted some odd goings-on, and made a conclusion. All things considered, I think we have to know, even if events are not related to Rigel."

"Everyone's related to me," Rigel snickered. His father took his bottle of beer away from him. "HEY!"

Magnus pulled out his list. "Theft, and later return of First and Second Year texts," Magnus read, "An explosion at Hagrid's, shortly after he took up woodcarving. Not beer related, as he's still got beer to sell in town. A security breach involving blue light, meaning Portkeys – Professor Potter said, odd clunking noises in the corridors when books went missing, or were returned undamaged. Magic used on books that a Firstie couldn't know how to do, along with security breaches that only someone who knows about Hogwarts security could do. Add to that, a Centaur boy who comes to one of our classes, friendly as he is – which is odd in itself – and who offers rides to little kids with busted ankles. And...and...who has his own wand?" Magnus concluded.

"_You_ have a _wand_?!" Hugo gasped at Aries. "How?"

Aries looked ashamed of himself. He shifted his hooves, and flicked his tail. He walked around the table, hooves clattering on the stone floor.

"Tha's the noise!" Smith blurted.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Aries put his satchel on the table and pulled out his wand and a couple of books. "I only borrowed them. I just...just..."

"Wanted to learn?" Hugo said softly, nodding.

"Yes, sir."

"Where did you get a wand, son?" Hugo pressed him.

"Or a Portkey, or access to the Castle at night?" Orion added.

"Hagrid helped me make one, sir," Aries confessed. "The first few didn't work, and that one, well, it sort of...sort of..."

"POOF!" Hagrid offered dramatically.

"Well, tha's one more mystery solved," Harry smiled. "You boys can go to bed now. Good work, Watson!"

"Aries, I'm sorry," Magnus apologized, "But with all that's going on, I had to..."

"It's all right, Mag," Aries offered his hand. "I understand. If _I _was sneaking in and out, it could have been someone out to get Rigel. You did the right thing, protecting your friend, and your school."

"It wasn't _easy_, though," Magnus sniffed. "I really am sorry, Aries. I didn't _want_ to do it. I didn't want to hurt your feelings. He won't get in trouble, will he, sir?" He asked of Hugo.

"Normally, I'd take points and dish out detentions, however," Hugo mused, "With all the effort he's gone to, I see no other alternative."

Dumbledore was laughing again. Snape got up and left. McGonagall looked stunned. Cedric was very pleased, it seemed.

"Well done, Magnus," he nodded.

"Sir?" Aries asked, "Please don't sack Hagrid over it! He and Father thought it would be a good idea, since I was the first of...my kind...to show that I could use human magic!"

"Firenze had that same talent," Hugo nodded. "I recall Gran Hermione talking about it once. So, as I was saying, I shall issue detentions tomorrow evening, after dinner, and take points from whatever House the Hat places you in, Colt!"

Aries froze. "Y-you're going to … _admit_ me, sir?!"

Hugo nodded. "I've already swept Rigel under the proverbial rug, so to say, what's another great break with tradition?"

"The Governors will have apoplexy!" Orion predicted, as the boys cheered.

"That means fits!" Ewan piped up, snickering.

"Boys! BED!" Harry snapped at them, noting the empty beer bottles. "And detention, with me, for smuggling alcohol!"

As they filed out, the boys all shook hands with Aries, and apologized again.

"They're very odd, for humans, aren't they?" He asked of Hagrid, who was looking quite emotional.

"I think they're just right," Hagrid answered.

"And _you_!" Orion glared at him, but his father-in-law was laughing again.

"You are housebroken, ain't you, Colt?" Smith asked, looking a bit pale. MacPherson passed him a beer.

"I am, sir," Aries nodded.

"Woo-hoo, I feel _lucky_ tonight!" MacPherson crowed.

"FATHER!" Niamh snapped at him. "Don't!"

"What, Missy?" He grinned at her, "Rigel's under cover again, he's not expelled, secret's safe, and young Aries here gets his wish to come to school! An' we've got cake left, and beer!" He slapped the table, which woke up the other House Elves.

"Oh, me head," Tweaky groaned. "Them boyses and their beerses!"

"They boys gave you beer?" Orion demanded. "Tweeeeeaky?" He pressed him. Tweaky cracked and spilled his guts! "I'll have points tomorrow!" Orion grinned. "And detentions!"

"Me first," Harry smiled back at him.

"They're going to hate us," Orion predicted.

"No, they won't," Harry disagreed. "They'll know they did wrong."

"Well, all, I must be off," Madame Iceni said. "Congratulations, Aries," she shook his hand. "I think you're the first since all the part-and-near-Humans left a thousand years ago? Don't suppose you favor Slytherin?"

"Too many steps, Miss!" Aries laughed. "But maybe I'll get lucky with the Sorting?"

"Sure an' yeh will!" MacPherson exclaimed, raising his bottle in a toast, "Lucky _boy_ that yeh are!"

"DAD!" Niamh snapped at him again. "I'm _sure_ that Aries will certainly miss his lower half, should it suddenly _vanish_!"

"Thank you sir, but yes, I kind of need all of me?" Aries agreed.

"Well who said I couldn'a' put it back later?" MacPherson looked hurt. Then he grinned again. "Run along home now, and regards to yer father, and my congrat's, boy!" He raised his bottle again. Aries bowed, and made his way up the ramp, leaving the books.

"I'm going to bed," Orion sighed. "Headmaster, I think I'll be ill tomorrow. Today. Whatever..."

"Oh come now, Love, let me fix it," Niamh led him out. "Tell me all yer woes, Husband..." her voice trailed off.

"Good man, that one," MacPherson declared, "Even if me other grandson does look like a little white ferret with bushy hair!"

As the staff went their own ways, leaving the kitchen to Smith, MacPherson, and the Elves, Pamona led her Gran to the Cellar proper.

"It's been so long," Hannah sighed, touching the round oak door.

"Why don't you stay in the guest room tonight, Gran?" She offered. "We don't get to use it often."

"Good to see you, Hannah," Cedric greeted her in the Common Room.

"Hasn't changed a bit," Hannah smiled.

"So, they're letting him stay?" Old Harry asked, his face floating in the green flames of the Floo.

"We are," Henry agreed.

"You're making a big mistake, boy," Harry told him.

"You really think so?" Henry asked.

Harry nodded. "Although from what you told me about Gove, it looks like things aren't safe in the Realm?"

"MacPherson didn't seem too upset by that, either," Henry pointed out. "In fact, he didn't seem bothered at all by the boy being the Ambasadóir, or having the ring."

"Magnus Gove is joined to Rigle Malfoy now – more than brothers – in a Leprechaun's view," Harry pointed out. "Harming him would be like harming his own family, and Leprechauns don't do that. It's one of their highest crimes."

"So whoever attacked him in the Realm, couldn't have been in the MacPherson Clan!" Henry reasoned.

"If they were, they're guilty of high treason," Harry agreed, "And I can't begin to imagine the punishment they'd face if caught. Almost _has_ to be another faction, then."

"A faction that doesn't want the boy to be king?" Henry asked.

"Or a faction that stands to gain by getting rid of King Deo," Harry added. "Either way. Right now, Rigel Malfoy is in _our_ world. He mainly channels our magic, not theirs. He's been raised to be human, not Leprechaun. Add to that, he's got an Ambasadóir now. That means they _can't _take him, so long as Magnus Gove stands in their way."

"Which puts the boy in grave danger," Henry reminded him.

"So long as he's got that ring, he should be all right," Harry said. "I saw what it does, after all. Now, about the Centaur?"

"We're admitting him, full time," Henry replied. "He'll be enrolled, sorted, and be expected to do the curriculum, just like everyone else."

"Odd, that his herd would allow this," Harry wondered, "They've been very standoffish for a long, long time. I honestly thought that Delores Umbridge was going to start a war with them. I can only imagine what kind of field day the press is going to have with this!"

"Can we even admit Aries, legally?" Henry asked.

"No, he's classified as a Beast," Harry explained, "But he _can_ use a wand, which should be checked over by Gregorovitch and Ollivander before he's turned loose with it! Wandlore is nothing to fool around with!"

"You should know, old man," Henry snorted.

"Just keep a sharp eye on these kids, son," Harry reminded him, "This is no coincidence, all these hybrid kids this term. _Something_'s going on, and you can bet it's got _everything_ to do with Rigel Malfoy!"

**Notes**:

^maybe not in 100 years, but it is now. Go with it, please...

easy to copy words:

Rónán

Deartháir – Gaelic for 'brother'

King Deoradhán

MacMillan should be 'Macmillan', but who cares?

Ambasadóir – Gaelic for 'ambassador'

Mamaí – Gaelic for 'mom'

Khaavolaar – Goblin profanity

. ?title=Goblin_Language


	18. Chapter 18-Masquerade

**18 – Masquerade**

(15+ warning for crude humor and biological statements. No sexual overtones are implied; that's just _your_ dirty mind at work! Add extreme fluff warning.)

It was an ordeal, dragging the Hufflepuff Firsties out of bed that next morning. In fact, Marjorie MacMillan herself was running a bit late, and fully expecting a major loss in House points. "GET UP!" She shouted at them, beating them with their own pillows. Finally, she had to resort to calling her male counterpart, a Welsh boy named Taliesin Humphreys, to assist her.

"Mr. Humphreys, are you free?" She shouted at him.

"_I'm_ free!" Humphreys replied, as he assisted in bodily dragging the boys out of bed and tossing them unceremoniously into the showers. Then she cut off the hot water, which seemed to revive them at once! Humphreys graciously dried their sodden pyjamas, however.

"Never get drunk, unless you're willin' ter pay fer it tha next day," Rigel moaned, as they staggered up to breakfast with untidy hair and rumpled uniforms. Although they made it on time, they were met by many teachers at the doors of the Great Hall.

"You've got a big day, boys," Pamona Longbottom grinned at them.

"Let the carnage...begin!" Hugo clapped his hands. "For smuggling and sharing alcohol," he said, "Fifty points – EACH – will be taken from Hufflepuff!"

"And detentions...-" - "...with us!" Orion and Harry both said, sounding a great deal like the Twins.

"Thirty days, hard labor!" Orion clarified.

"And I shall write a letter to your parents," Pamona added.

"We're sorry," The boys all mumbled, staring down at their shoes.

"You _are_ a sorry lot," Madame Iceni agreed, "But I think that cake was worth a few points last night, don't you? And what about Mag's brilliant deduction, resulting in the gaining of a new pupil? I say ten points each?"

"Can you not yell, please, Miss?" Magnus whimpered.

"I'm not yelling, it's those wolf ears combined with hangover," Madame Iceni explained.

"Oh," Magnus groaned, totally oblivious to the fact that he had the same ears as Rónán.

"Don't tell him," Orion whispered, as they all entered the Hall from the front entrance.

At the end of the Hufflepuff table, the boys weren't the only ones looking a bit shabby as the points hourglasses moved, and Hufflepuff moved to just a few points ahead of Ravenclaw, almost losing their lead. One wrong move, and they'd blow it. MacMillan and Humphreys explained this debacle to the rest of their House, and the boys received some very dirty looks for their trouble.

"An' what about the points buffer from my cooking?" Magnus asked. "We'd not even _be_ ahead if it weren't for me!" He growled at them. Literally.

"Good job, Freaks!" Aidan Adams called out to them from the Slytherin table, where he was sitting alone.

"I have a few announcements before we begin breakfast," Hugo called out for attention, which made the boys' heads hurt all the more. "First off, Laddie Lawrence, Gryffindor, you are excused for first period. You know why. Next, you should all know that Hogwarts is getting another latecomer this evening! We shall sort him then, and I expect you all to welcome him warmly! And finally, all students should be aware that security is being tightened on campus. I pity anyone who gets caught sneaking about after lights out! That will be all!" He sat back down, and breakfast appeared.

"I'm gonna be sick," Ewan fretted.

"Effluo!" Rigel pulled his wand, and the spell worked, effectively cloaking their small crowd. He then snapped his fingers, and several glasses of a smoking green concoction appeared on the table.

"Wha's this?" Sebastian moaned.

"One of my unfair advantages! Drink it!" Rigel ordered them.

"Why? I feel OK?" Rhys said.

"_You _would," Rigel mumbled. "What I wouldn't give for Goblin insides about now!"

"I thought Leprechauns lived on that stuff, like sugar and alcohol?" Aaron asked.

"You didn't see how much I had _before_ you got there," Rigel whimpered. "Gods, do they have to eat so loud?!"

"What?" Connor asked, looking around. Then he pulled a crystal from his pocket and shoved it into his ear. Fortunately, Rigel's cure had kicked in by then, as his spell kicked out. Rónán turned around and puked.

"Apparently, it does not work on werewolves," Lucas observed, looking chipper and neat as always. "What?" They all glared at him. "It's not _my_ fault that alcohol has almost no effect on Sprites?"

"I'm going to die," Magnus groaned, as he and Rónán fled.

"Is it like this every day with you lot?" Fiona Finnigan asked.

"NO!" They all assured her.

"Was it just me, or did Mag have funny ears?" Rhys asked.

After a grueling day, the boys and their friends found Hagrid in almost as bad a shape as they were. He was nursing a hangover as well, sipping some foul concoction that the boys refused to touch, and studying a copy of **Fabulous, Frisky Fauns**. He also looked angry about something, but his face softened when Laddie patted his arm. Hagrid checked the boy's head at the temples again, and sighed harder. "Hurt?"

"Yes, sir," Laddie admitted.

"It's jus' not _fair_," Hagrid finally muttered. "Still, can't believe Aries is comin', though! OH!" He seemed to remember something, "Madame Malkin were by earlier to alter his uniforms, and well," he coughed, blushing a bit, "Can't have Aries gallopin' 'round the castle naked, can we? Once he's all cleaned up, seein' as how he's never had a real bath, he'll need ter learn how to put his uniform on! Now, I've got his hooves all cleaned up and shod so he don't make so much noise, and the floors don't hurt his legs, but I still need some help. Rather, _Aries _does."

"With what?" Rónán asked.

"Well, fer one thing, he can't reach his own tail, an' he'll have ter be brushed, you know, jus' like havin' a pony," Hagrid explained, "And without his herd, he'll need some help with that. Now, he'll be a bit embarrassed, so don't make no fuss over it, all right?"

"That's what friends do," Magnus nodded, which only made his head hurt worse.

"Nice ears," Hagrid complimented him, offering him a hand mirror.

Magnus gasped, nearly dropping it. "And here I thought everyone was just interested in what I had to say all day!"

"We'd better call Uncle Teddy," Rónán said, "It's too soon, and too much of a change for him!" Rónán himself, though, was looking quite canine already.

"You lot let me go all day without _telling_ me?" Magnus accused them.

"You were ill," Rigel offered, "We didn't want to upset you."

"Thanks awfully!" Magnus retorted.

Back in the Cellar, the boys put in a panicked Floo call to Teddy Lupin. He and Teddy Potter arrived at once. They fled to the boys' dorm, where Lupin began examining Magnus at once. He sent his namesake for Madame Pomfrey, and began scanning the boy with his wand. He sniffed him. He looked him over very closely. Then he pulled a small metal box from his pocket.

"Mag, this might hurt," he warned the boy. "It's a fragment of a moon rock, stolen from NASA over a century ago by Draco Malfoy. Long story, but it's a surefire test."

"Do it," Magnus nodded.

Lupin opened the box and tapped the rock with his wand. "Lumos Lux Luna," he said, and the rock lit up.

Magnus screamed and curled up in pain, clutching his stomach. Rónán, who'd seen it coming and changed form in advance, whimpered as his legs, tail and muzzle shifted a bit.

"What is it NOW?" Madame Pomfrey demanded, as Lupin put the rock away.

"The cure didn't hold," Lupin informed her, turning and muttering profanities under his breath. "I was _sure_ it would! There must be DNA damage after all!"

"He's going to change?" Teddy Potter asked. "Damn, I'm sorry, kid! If Artie and me had got there sooner..."

"No, you saved my life," Magnus assured them, panting. "It's not your fault!"

"So what do we do?" Teddy Potter asked.

"I can try the cure again," Teddy Lupin said, as Madame Pomfrey fussed over Magnus. She drew blood, even, but as she read her scans of him, she didn't look happy.

"You're going to reopen that bite wound and try Blood Magic again?" She snapped at him.

"Please, sir, I don't wanna be a wolf!" Magnus pleaded.

While the adults argued about it, Rigel nodded at Rónán. The other four boys left the room. Rónán was visibly shaken as he partially transformed back. "He...he doesn't know _how_! And I was only _kidding_!" Rónán started to cry. "Mates, you _don't_ know! You don't know how _bad _it hurts! He's gonna...he'll _hate_ me!"

"He _won't_ hate you," Rigel told him, just as Miss MacMillan arrived in the Common Room.

"What is it?" She gasped, seeing Rónán.

"The cure didn't hold, Magnus is going to change," Ewan told her.

"Oh, no!" She breathed, taking a sobbing Rónán in her arms.

"I _will _not allow this!" Rigel then said, his eyes igniting, almost literally, in green light. On his finger, his ring glowed. He cracked his knuckles. "Deartháir is the Ambasadóir, and this cannot happen!" His clothing then switched from daily uniform to his Leprechaun garb. An odor of cinnamon, sugar, and shamrocks permeated the room.

"Rigel, you c-can't fix this!" Rónán warned him. "He's got to take the Animous P-potion, or he'll go m-mad!"

"I don't know about you lot, but I feel _lucky _today!" Rigel said flatly, marching back to their room. "Deartháir!" He called to Magnus, offering his hand. Teddy and Teddy stepped back at the sight of him.

"Get out!" Madame Pomfrey warned them, shooing them from the room, "Go and find his father, NOW!"

"What was _that_?!" Teddy Lupin asked.

"You don't want to know!" Madame Pomfrey told him, securing the door from the outside, and leaving the boys alone.

On his bed, Magnus lay panting, staring at the ceiling. With the moon rock gone, he was back to only having golden eyes and wolf ears, but he was clearly upset as he confronted Rigel. "Speaking of unfair advantages?" Rigel asked, offering his hand.

Magnus took it.

As he did, his ring exploded in green fire as well.

"Do you feel _lucky_, Deartháir?" Rigel asked.

"I do, Deartháir," Magnus replied, his voice full of trust.

Rigel filled his mind with an image of his friend, his brother, his Ambasadóir, just as he remembered seeing him for the first time on Platform 9 ¾: fully human. Green fire of Leprechaun magic surrounded them, and Rigel Ossian Arthur Malfoy spoke: "Good luck with not becoming a genuine werewolf, EVER, Magnus Scot Gove VI, my Deartháir," Rigel spoke the words slowly and clearly. "You put yourself in harm's way for me, and now I do so, for you!"

Then the green light exploded.

The next thing the boys knew, they were being shaken awake. They were in bed, together, their heads throbbing worse than when they'd awakened that morning. Niamh Malfoy and Grandfather MacPherson were standing over them, along with Orion.

"What _have_ you done, boy?" Orion demanded.

"What I _had _to do, Father," Rigel managed, as his mother offered him a drink of something. MacPherson did the same with Magnus.

"Sure an' I think he let 'er fly!" the old man smiled, "Hell, we heard that one all tha way ter Dublin, we did!"

"Son?" Orion repeated.

"I used Leprechaun magic to make sure that Magnus didn't go all werewolf on us," Rigel explained.

MacPherson whistled in amazement. "Yeh _really_ oughtta start off smaller, Boyo," he advised. "Think it worked?!"

"Well, the wolf ears are gone, and his eyes are blue," Orion observed, turning on his son. He gasped. "Rigel, you're looking rather...human, son?"

"I...I feel OK, I think?" Rigel offered.

"Sure an' ya look dreadful, tho, Boyo," MacPherson observed. "Best stay in bed fer a bit!"

"What time is it?" Magnus mumbled. "Did we miss it? Aries?"

"No, you didn't miss it," Orion assured him. "You two get changed, all right? I'm pretty sure that brew of Niamh's will have you back to normal in a few minutes. It's Leprechaun potion, after all!"

"Husband," she smiled at him, "Of course they'll be all right! They are Deartháir, after all!" She glared at her father. "An' I've had plenty of experience mixin' up a brew er three to cure a hangover!"

"Of all the mad things..." Orion began ranting, as they gave the boys some privacy.

"Now, now," MacPherson interrupted, "The boy done tha right thing! No one's the wiser, and he'll be fine, with a bit o'luck!"

Orion hung his head in defeat. "Thank you," he said to his father-in-law. "We've got enough excitement coming, what with Aries arriving in a few minutes, without all this! Lucky they made it!"

"Aren't they, though?" MacPherson smiled. Then he vanished.

The Great Hall was abuzz with chatter just before dinner that evening. The students were talking about why there were so many people milling about outside the gates, and even reporters from the _**Daily Prophet**_, and several _**WWN**_ news agencies. The consensus was that their new student must be some very important dignitary's child, maybe even one of the Princes of England himself!

The mix of students at the end of the Hufflepuff table knew, though – but they weren't telling.

"Your attention please!" Headmaster Weasley called out. Everyone ignored him.

"**SHUT IT**!" Madame Iceni's Sonorus Charm blasted through the Hall. That worked.

"_Thank_ you! Now as you all know, we are receiving a new student this evening. Of course, he must be sorted into a House. You have probably also noticed the media fanfare at the front gates. Fortunately, we have increased security," he gestured to Teddy Lupin and Teddy Potter, stationed at the main entrance of the Hall. "This is a first for Hogwarts," Hugo went on, "In that we are accepting a student the likes of which our school has never before seen. His enrollment will, we hope, foster further diplomatic relations with his people in the future! So without fur ado, Mr. Smith, if you will!"

Caretaker Smith brought in the Sorting Hat, but oddly enough, no stool for the student to sit upon.

Hugo rapped on the staff table. "Now, boys," he called down to the kitchens.

A boy then appeared in front of the staff table, materializing out of a nimbus of blue light. He was taller than the average Firstie, or even Second Year student, and he had a rugged look about him. His skin was deeply tanned, his shiny brown hair parted down the middle and pulled back in a long ponytail. His large brown eyes sparkled, and he smiled nervously, unsure of what to do with his hands as he faced the Great Hall head-on.

"Aries Eachan, you will now be sorted into your House," Hugo informed him, taking the Hat from Mr. Smith.

"You have _got_ to be kidding!" Aidan Adams snorted. One of the Slytherin Prefects, a girl by the name of Julia Pritchard, gave him a good whack to the upper arm. "Owww!" Adams whined.

"Be _quiet,_ this is an historic occasion!" She warned him.

"But he's a..." Adams began to say, just as Aries turned a bit to the side and bowed his head to accept the Sorting Hat. The illusion of seeing a boy in long robes that hid his feet broke, as Aries gave them a full profile view.

"A Centaur!" Several of the students gasped.

"Bet Madame Malkin had a heck of a time cutting _that_ robe!" Aaron laughed.

Aries and that Hat conversed for a good minute, if not more, as the students waited. Whichever house got Aries, many of them knew, would be making history.

"It's been more than a thousand years since a non-human Being attended Hogwarts, even as a day pupil," the Hat then addressed the Hall. Even the Ghosts weren't moving, seemingly frozen in anticipation. "In those days, humans, Centaurs, Goblins, Sprites, and various other races studied side by side under the tutelage of the Founders."

Rigel sniffed at his race being left off the list.

"But problems arise, and times change," The Hat went on, "Perhaps now is the time for change, yet again, to mend some of these old differences?" Then it screwed up its folds in concentration, stood straight up, and shouted:

"**HUFFLEPUFF!"**

The Hall shook with a great cheering, as outside, watching on a carefully cast illusion, the press went mad scribbling out their stories.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Headmaster Weasley shook Aries' hand. "No more 'borrowing' books now, son!"

"_No_, sir! Thank you, sir!" Aries smiled, as he made his way to the end of the Hufflepuff table – slowly.

"Please! Please, students!" Hugo shouted, "Let the boy get situated and have dinner, will you? You'll all have time to meet him later, when he's settled in!"

"Settled in at Hagrid's barn," Adams snorted, which earned him a good cuff upside the head from his Prefect. "Just wait until I write my father about this!"

"I'll bet you were one of those spoiled brats who always asked for a pony for his birthday, and never got one, aren't you?" Pritchard asked him. Adams ignored her.

Aries' hooves, now carefully shod with hard rubber horseshoes, made a soft sound as he situated himself on a large cushion that had appeared at the end of the Hufflepuff table. Once his rear end was down and his front legs straight, much like a dog sitting, he was about the same height as his friends. "Sorry, we don't sit often," he smiled at them.

"Think we better practice stairs tonight?" Sebastian asked.

"Can't we wait a bit?" Aries sighed, "Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley to get my school things today, and I really don't much fancy walking on cobblestones! My legs are hurting!"

"I think you'll get lucky on the stairs," Rigel predicted with a grin.

Magnus jabbed him in the ribs. "Watch it now!"

"I see your ears are back to normal?" Rónán smiled at him, but his golden eyes were still puffy and bloodshot.

"I got lucky," Magnus assured him with a playful shove. Rónán shoved him back.

"So how was it, getting clothes?" Lucas asked.

"Beastly," Aries sighed. "What is the purpose of this necktie thing?"

"No one knows, I denk," Erik supplied.

"Well, I think you look handsome," Fiona Finnigan added, leaning over from the Gryffindor table where she was chatting with her friends.

"You might just get lucky on the stairs after all," Garrett put in with a snicker.

"What is this?" Aries asked, holding up a baked potato, which led to a lengthy discussion of what the part-human Scoffers could and could not eat. "We don't eat anything with four legs and hooves," he informed them. "But grilled Acromantula is nice! It's like crab legs!"

Lucas Bole paused in mid-bite.

"Sorry!" Aries offered.

"Wait until you see the pot roast," Magnus said, and Aries went a bit pale.

"Now you know how _I_ feel on fish night," Lucas added, which, for some reason, struck them all as very funny.

When dinner was finished, followed by a dessert course of cream filled cup cakes made from Magnus' recipe, the Hall began to empty out. Aries was obliged to shake hands with almost everyone, and even got a peck on the cheek from Miss MacMillan! "But don't expect any special treatment!" She warned him. "Humphreys and I can be pretty hard on the students!"

"Thought you were supposed to wait for the stairs?" Sebastian snickered.

"Oh, turn it off, Precious," Rigel reminded him, "Before we have Madame Pomfrey neuter you!"

"HEY!" Rónán exclaimed, "Don't say the n-word!"

"I'm with Wolfboy," Laddie put in nervously.

"See? It wasn't so bad, coming out, was it?" Aries offered, clapping him on the shoulder as he got to all four feet.

"Guess not. Did it hurt, having those shoes put on?" Laddie asked.

"No, I can't feel it, and they're held on with a Charm, not nails," Aries explained, glancing at Laddies shoes. "They help a lot! You?"

"I got human feet," Laddie sighed, as they all filed out of the Hall.

"That's too bad," Aries sighed.

Magnus suggested they take a side door, which led to the rose garden, and around the side to the loading bay doors. "Sometimes, I feel confused, though," Laddie was saying. "I mean, my _dad's _got hooves, you know. I guess it breeds out over time?" He sniffled.

"What's wrong, Mate?" Aaron asked, but it was Aries who answered.

"You feel like you are betraying your heritage, your father?" The colt asked.

Laddie nodded.

"You cannot help what you are, my friend," Aries advised, "Be happy in your family, respect that, and use your talents to honor them. Never be ashamed."

"I miss my horns, though," Laddie sighed. "Oh well, guess I look human enough," he then shrugged, "We best get caught up on homework, right? You'll be behind, Aries!" He gasped.

"No, actually I am a bit _ahead_ of you," Aries blushed a bit, pausing to smell some roses, "I was borrowing books, remember?"

"Sorry I chased you," Rónán offered, "My wolf side got away from me." He wagged his tail shyly.

"No harm done. My mother would love these," Aries said, his eyes going distant.

"Have you seen the greenhouses yet?" Ewan asked, and Aries shook his head. Ewan smiled. "You'll love it, Mate! You could give her one of these, to plant in...uhm...back home?"

"We have detention first," Magnus reminded them. "The dishes are waiting!"

As if on queue, Orion Malfoy showed up to confiscate wands. "You had this homemade job checked yet, son?" He asked of Aries.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Ollivander said it was excellent – for an amateur job!" Aries nodded, "He polished it up a bit more, too!"

"Very good," Professor Malfoy nodded, "Now, you'll be doing dishes, cleaning the House tables, sweeping and mopping the floor of the Great Hall, and then doing homework!"

"But it'll be bedtime by then!" Rigel protested.

"_Ex_actly," Professor Malfoy patted his son's head.

As the Cellar could only be magically expanded so far without compromising the structural integrity of the castle, it was decided that one of the boy's twin beds would be made into a bunk, while a larger bed was brought in for Aries. Even though the colt assured his Prefects that he was perfectly happy to sleep standing up, they insisted that he use a bed.

Undressing was another challenge. Aries almost strangled himself removing his tie, and he had no idea what buttons were. His solution was to grab his collar and pull, sending a barrage of buttons flying at his friends. Once he figured out buttons, however, removing the robe from his human half was easy. Fortunately, his horse section was covered by what resembled a large, black tablecloth. "This whole idea of clothing is absolutely mad," he snorted, flicking his tail in disgust.

"Just wait until you see the showers," Rigel snickered.

"If I want a bath, I will stand outside in the rain," Aries informed him.

"BATHS! _Every _day!" Miss MacMillan stuck her head in the door and shouted at him.

"How does she _do_ that?" Rónán wondered.

Aries wasn't impressed by the idea of a toothbrush, either...

"I am _exhausted_," Ewan flopped on his bed, "But at least it's Halloween soon!" He sighed. "Then the potion and the diet starts."

"DIET?!" They all gasped.

"Am I doing this right?" Aries asked, situating himself on his side and looking rather pastoral, curled up as he was. Rigel flicked his wand, and wafted a blanket over him. "This_ is_ sort of nice," Aries admitted.

"What do you do to keep warm in winter, I mean," Sebastian asked, "If you don't wear clothing?"

"We build longhouses near hot springs, and have big fires," Aries explained. "The mares and geldings also gather shed hair, and weave it with soft plant fibers into cloaks. But none of these buttons. The horse part keeps itself warm by growing a thicker coat."

"Makes sense to me," Magnus yawned, getting into his pyjamas. Aries shivered. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, it's just...just...I have never seen a naked human before," Aries replied. "You look like you've...you've been chopped in half! It's unnerving!"

They all laughed at that, until Aries got the joke.

"What's a gelding, you said?" Ewan asked him, "A professional cloak maker?"

And so Aries explained it, perplexed by the boys' reactions of seeming terror. "You do not have geldings, you humans?"

"NO!" They all exclaimed.

"Merlin's socks! And I get upset when people neuter their _dogs_!" Rónán shivered, pulling his blanket over his head.

"He didn't like being neutered?" Aries asked, in all innocence. "I'm sorry!"

"I'M NOT NEUTERED!" Rónán shouted from under his blanket.

"_Yet_," Magnus threw his own joke back at him. Rónán threw his pillow at him, as the boys laughed. Eventually, Rónán laughed too, but they were too tired to keep it up. Sebastian took the top bunk over Ewan, and it wasn't a minute before the room was quiet. Only the arc of light under the round door signaled that anything might be wrong.

"Aren't they adorable?" MacMillan sighed, as she came to turn down the torches.

"When they're _asleep_, yes!" Humphreys agreed.

As Hagrid had promised, Aries needed some help the next morning. It didn't take him long to figure out a shower, even though he was disgusted by it. "Bathing every day is _not_ healthy," he snorted, "And this shampoo," he waved the bottle around, "Smells nothing like real lavender!"

"Blame it on Hagrid," Magnus suggested, "And Marjorie," he added, working on Aries' flank with a long-handled brush. "HEY! Watch those hoof twitches, now!"

"This is embarrassing, my mother should be doing this," Aries grumbled, as Rigel brushed the knots out of his tail. "OUCH!"

"Sorry!"

"How many stomachs do you have?" Ewan asked out of the blue.

"Three. You?"

"Just one!" Ewan laughed.

"Next CoMC class, we get some Charms for Hippogriff care, they should work on the back half of you," Sebastian mused.

"This doesn't...bother you?" Aries finally asked.

"What _bothers_ us is when MacMillan peeks in to see why we're taking too long," Rónán answered.

"I had a pony once," Rigel supplied, "No offense! He's Aldebaran's now, since I came here."

"The way you brush a tail, I would _never_ have guessed," Aries replied. Then he grinned. "Humor is not so hard!"

"Oh! He _got_ you!" Magnus laughed, which led to a soap bubble fight – that was rudely interrupted.

"BOYS!"

"**AIGH**!"

After dressing, the next challenge was the stairs. The Elves offered to 'beam him up', but Aries declined. "I have to learn how to do this," he said.

"Right front, and left rear legs up," The boys helped position his hooves on the steps to the ground floor. "Other sides, same motion, don't stretch too far up, good, now push off with the forward facing legs! Bring the other two forward!" Aries grabbed the bannisters, which seemed to have contracted for him. After a few stumbles, Aries seemed to get the hang of it – even though he had to concentrate on it.

"It's like learning to walk again after you break you leg," Ewan assured him. "I know. Tha's when I started getting fat."

"Don't say 'broken leg' to a Centaur," Aries grinned.

"**Deal**! If _you _stop saying the n-word!" Rónán added.

When they arrived on the ground floor, there was much applause from the assembled students. Amazingly, Aidan Adams passed them without a peep. Brian Bott, the Slytherin Prefect, looked rather smug about that. "I modified the Leglocker Curse to fit vocal cords," he smiled. "He can eat, but he can't make a peep!"

"Does he know the Counter-Curse?" Rigel gasped.

"Who said I _made_ one up?" Bott smiled, dropping a large bag of Beans into Magnus' pocket. "They're all good ones," he assured them. "I have a Sorting Spell! When's a good night?"

"Come the night of the second!" Magnus grinned, "But remember, be gone by two!"

"Tell _me_!" Bott laughed.

At breakfast, the boys were surprised to see their new friend eating bacon. "But pigs have four legs and hooves?" Magnus wondered.

"And they smell, they're dirty, and not social at all. You can't have a civil conversation with one," Aries countered, "What _else_ are they good for? Give me goats or deer any day!"

Laddie smiled at him from across the table. He was looking rather chipper about something, and his hair seemed bigger in the front. "I'm getting my _horns_ back!" He said proudly, "Hagrid broke the Charm! Hurts like hell, but I'll be _me_ again by tonight!"

"So you'll lose the contact lenses?" Rigel asked.

"Nah, I'm bad nearsighted," Laddie sighed. "Gotta keep those."

"Wear glasses?" Harry suggested, as he passed by. "I see you're all recovered and settling in all right there, Colt?"

"Yes, sir!" Aries smiled at him, patting his satchel. "My _own_ books! Thank you, sir!"

"Wait 'til you see the library in daylight!" Lucas said.

Aries was delighted. Classes went well, although he was allowed to leave a few minutes early to combat the stairs. All of the teachers were impressed with his work, and by the end of the day, the boys had regained about twenty of their points.

_Dear Mum & Dad__:  
I guess you've gotten the letter from my Head of House by now.  
Sorry. I'm ashamed of myself, honestly!  
But its not like I did it on purpose. I still don't understand why they get so upset about having a bit of alcohol in the desert items? How can I make a proper cake without liqueurs? Or stout ale?  
Just so you know, the other problem worked itself out. I won't be writing about that anymore, as I'm now sure that they read all our mail. Those of us who aren't quite human, that is. I'll tell you about it when I come home for Christmas.  
We have a new roomate, too. His name is Aries, and he's a Centaur!  
Yes, they're real! Remember when I wanted a pony when I was little?  
I'm so glad you said 'no'. He's a nice kid, honestly, but being built like he is, he has to have help with some things. You can imagine...  
Happy Hallowene! I guess it's a big deal here? Our Prefect says they're throwing a maskerade ball. Good thing Mum taught me how to dance.  
As for my furry little problem, well, it almost got worse, but we've sorted it out. I don't have ears and a tail yet...  
Love,  
Magnus VI_

Magnus read over his letter again, decided it best to not mention his dealings with the Leprechauns, and sent it off with Auguste.

"It's not _really_ costumes," MacMillan explained to the boys. "You just get dressed up in some fancy, if not outrageous clothes, and have a mask to hide your face! We have a wonderful feast, candies, gifts, and dance the evening away. Then at midnight, they shout "UNMASK!" and everyone throws their mask into the air..." She said dreamily.

"_Wo_men," Rigel snorted. "That's the _definition_ of 'costume'!"

"Check with me in about four or five years," MacMillan retorted.

"Outrageous clothing?" Magnus wondered.

"Wear your Leprechaun suit," Rigel snorted. "I'm not going!"

"-You're going!-" The Twins declared, as Humphreys answered the door and let them in. "-Halloween and Hogsmeade!-" They announced, "-We're here for advance orders!-"

"You're here to get a peek at costumes!" MacMillan accused them. The Twins looked hurt, but then laughed.

"Costume supplies, anyone?" They announced, and surprisingly, there quite a few Second and Third Year takers.

"You're_ not_?" Magnus asked of his friend Daniel.

"It was great last year, Mag! You _have_ to come!" Daniel assured him. "Liam had this great yellow mask with red cheeks, and he charmed it to throw small lightning bolts! He even had a tail! Well, his _costume _did!"

"Have him knit something," Magnus sniffed.

"Wear that charming little...-"  
"-...green and beige outfit!" The Twins suggested, "-We can find you a mask!-"

"Good luck with _that_," Rigel snorted, and instantly clapped his hands over his mouth. The Twins just beamed. Magnus cringed.

Sure enough, MacMillan was back in a moment with Magnus' 'Leprechaun suit'. "You went through my trunk?!" He squeaked in alarm. Then he glared at Rigel.

"Oh, look at the little _boots_!" MacMillan crooned, holding his woolen tunic up in front of him. "A little green, he could be Robin Hood! Boys, you _have _to get him a wonderful mask! Something in metallic earth tones!"

"_You're_ going too, Deartháir," Magnus grinned wickedly at Rigel. "I'll need some merry men!"

"A shopping we shall go!" The Twins decreed, as Rigel grudgingly counted out some gold.

"This is a _night_mare," Magnus sighed, standing in front of the full length mirror on the back of their dormitory door. He was dressed in Leprechaun garb, which wasn't so bad, really, except that he _did_ think he looked like Robin Hood. MacMillan, looking like an overgrown budgie herself, had added long feathers to his boots. She'd charmed some lacy green trim to his tunic, and even charmed down a pair of brown Quidditch gloves for him. But what was worse than his arms and legs being bare was the mask.

It covered his head in a beige cap with golden trim, and was highlighted by an earthy, delicate scarf that could only be described as 'overdone'. The mask itself was metallic, hiding the upper half of his face and his nose, and it shifted in earthy tones that sparkled in the light. It was also trimmed in various owl feathers, which swept back to make it look like he had outrageously plumed ears.

A toy bow and arrow completed the ensemble.

"Kill me now," Magnus begged anyone who would listen. They only laughed at him.

"It's great, Mag!" Daniel complimented him.

"Says the Boy Wonder," Magnus sighed, taking in the sight of his friend dressed as a Muggle comic book sidekick, "Least you only have a black half-mask!"

Liam Creevey was, of course, armed with his camera and dressed as...Magnus couldn't tell _what_. He was colourful, and they all left it at that.

Magnus' only comfort was that Rigel looked equally ridiculous. Rónán had gotten lucky, and been invited on a two day hunting trip with Teddy Potter. Sebastian seemed to be in the height of his glory, however, in a splendid tuxedo with black shining half-mask on a stick that hovered in front of his face when he let go of it. His white hair shone, and his polished black shoes clicked on the stone floors as he twirled a black and white walking stick in his white-gloved hands.

"I look like a beachball," Ewan complained of his costume.

"Oh my!" MacMillan breathed, as Aries emerged from the bathroom. He was naked, but for his satchel, and a large leather harness with packs slung over his back. His hair was pulled back and braided, and he carried a wicked bow and quiver of arrows on his upper back. He wore a chest plate as well, and carried a long pike with a shield strapped to his arm. Gauntlets protected his forearms, and hard leather plates covered all four of his shins.

"Finally, a night where I can be comfortable!" He exclaimed.

"Tha's because you're dressed NORMALLY!" The boys told him.

"If there's a battle, we've won," Rigel sighed.

They felt better when they arrived in the Hall, however. Everyone was ridiculous, but some of them were quite stylish. They met Professor Potter at the door. He was wearing a black cape, and a black mask with high points at the sides. A yellow badge was affixed to his chest, but other than that, he looked fairly normal.

"Oh, _why_ so serious, boys?" He demanded of them, swirling his cape.

"What'r you supposed to be?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm _Batman_!" Harry replied. "Come along, Robin!" He grabbed Daniel's gloved hand.

Dinner was a slight meal of assorted hors d'oeuvres and finger foods, as the main course at Halloween was dessert. Magnus was worried about this, but he'd taken great care to leave his cookbooks with Sonny and Tweaky. As they ate, the Scoffers noticed that Rhys looked more depressed than usual. "Why are you all hiding your faces?" The little Goblinoid asked sadly, and it took a fair bit of explaining to cheer him up.

"Because it's fun!" Erik told him, looking like an overgrown teddy bear.

"And it's nice to... _play with it_, you know?" Garrett added, flicking his long whiskers and touching his black button nose.

"What a lovely seal mask!" One of the other Hufflepuff girls complimented him, stroking his sleek, blue-black hair. They all just laughed.

Then the desserts appeared. There were puddings, cakes, pies, and endless platters of candied apples in all forms. There was nothing left out, and Magnus even found some magical candies that he'd never seen before. Ice Mice and Chocolate Frogs cavorted about the tables, and Licorice Snaps nipped at their fingers. Children of all years challenged each other to Acid Pops, as bewitched colored leaves fell from the Enchanted Ceiling. Bats fluttered overhead in the glow of a hundred hovering Jack-O-Lanterns.

"Now aren't you glad you came?" MacMillan crooned in Magnus' ear, as baskets of small gifts labeled simply 'boy' or 'girl' appeared on the tables.

"Of course they are," Professor Malfoy answered for him. He was dressed all in white, with a gold-trimmed half mask that seemed to blend into his long hair. Its points rose just above his eyebrows, and he contrasted harshly with Sebastian. As he walked by them, the tails of his white tuxedo flicked, nearly touching the floor.

"We have to be here for _four _hours?" Magnus groaned, as the tables slowly slid aside to open up the Hall for dancing. Music began to play, and the boys noted the organ on the dais again. "Who's that playing?" He asked, as the boy struck up a waltz.

"Taryn Humphreys, our Prefect's brother," Daniel answered. "Isn't he great?"

"Welsh boys _are_ musically inclined," Rigel noted, as a few other students with instruments joined him to form an orchestra.

"What is this...dancing?" Rhys asked, as a small hand wearing a white glove lay on his shoulder. He blinked.

"Hello, Rhys," A girl asked him, but given her elaborate mask, the boys didn't really know who it was. "May I?" She took his hand. "Oh, but you didn't dress?"

"I do not understand this, Miss, sorry," Rhys apologized. She whispered in his ear.

And Rhys smiled.

He fled the Hall, but was back in a few minutes. He returned dressed in bronze armor with a spiked helmet, and he carried a very convincing battleaxe strapped to his back. His high leather boots shone, as did his gauntlets, and the chains encircling his chest and waist jingled. He clapped his bronze visor down, hiding his face. "Now I get it!" He cried, taking the girl's hand as she led him to the dance floor.

"Elrond's _shorts_!" Lucas swore, "Look at that _armor_!"

"He's a Ravenclaw, all right, that Rhys," Ewan sighed. "Who _was_ that?"

"Vivienne Gaines?" Magnus wondered. "Or one of the Gryffie girls?"

"Not sure," Erik shook his head. "Too much perfume to sniff. Nice mask!"

"I think it were Fiona," Rigel said. "Say, where's Aries?"

"Get with it, Precious," Ewan laughed at Sebastian, pointing to where girls were waiting to dance with the colt – who was currently waltzing with Madame Iceni!

"How do you coordinate _four feet _to dance?!" Ewan gasped.

"He's good!" Magnus observed.

Sebastian stood up, and a passing girl in an ornate purple gown paused to stare at him. She had beautifully done-up black hair, heels, and a mask of sparkling purple feathers which she held on a stick in her white-gloved hand. Sebastian offered his. "Puis-je avoir cette danse, Mon Chéri?" She took it, Sebastian kissed it, and off they went.

"That was HARPER!" Rigel gasped. "_Merlin's pants_, he's dancing with HER?!"

Bianca Blott then tapped Laddie's shoulder, almost making him choke on his Butterbeer. She offered her hand. As Laddie stood, the boys saw that he was wearing a short leather tunic, but was not quite so well armed as Rhys or Aries. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his eyes were very strange. What was stranger were the curled horns at his temples, which protruded back to just over his pointed ears. His legs were also very furry, as were the backs of his hands and sides of his face. He was, in effect, the quintessential Faun.

"Somehow, I_ don't_ think that's a costume," Ewan sighed, just as rather plain little girl from their House came to sit by him. She wore a flowery dress, and a simple half-mask of real flowers.

"M-Melody, isn't it?" Ewan squeaked, "Hello!"

"What is this, _**Sadie Hawkins Day**_?" Magnus complained, which, of course, he was obliged to explain. Melody thought it was wonderful. Ewan looked like a landed fish, gasping, as she led him away.

One by one, the other boys paired off, leaving only Magnus and Rigel. Humphreys and his orchestra struck up a slower tune, as the boys sat and watched, nibbling sweets.

"All right, you two wallflowers," Madame Iceni startled them, and the boys gasped. Dressed in her pale blue gown and high heels, with her hair done up with red roses and a blood red half mask, she was, in a word, glamorous. "I don't think you've met Madame Vector, our Arithmancy teacher?" Madame Vector was equally stunning, in complimentary colors.

"What do they _mean_, having teachers that look so...so...?" Rigel fumbled.

"Hot?" Magnus finished, as the two embarrassed boys were dragged out to the dance floor.

"C'mon, merry men!" Madame Iceni encouraged him. "Let's find you a date! Can't dance with the old ladies all night, can you?"

"But we've run out of Firstie girls!" Rigel protested.

"Then you'll have to find an Upperclassman, won't you?" Madame Vector smiled at him.

And although the boys would never admit it, midnight seemed to come too soon, as Headmaster Weasley magically rang the bells and shouted "**UNMASK**!"

With a great shout, masks were thrown into the air amidst a shower of confetti.

"It's not fair that _you_ have to masquerade for all but _one_ night of the year," Bianca told Laddie, touching one of his horns, "You and your friends."

"Hey, Freak, they said to _un_mask!" Aidan Adams called out, just as Fiona Finnigan kissed Rhys on the cheek.

"_That's_ it!" Brian Bott snapped, grabbing Adams by the collar and lifting the kicking Firstie off the floor. He pulled his fist back.

"BOYS!" The teachers shouted, but Brian's arm was suddenly too heavy.

The Great Hall was quiet.

"Don't hit him in the face, sir!" Rhys asked, hanging off the taller boy's wrist. Armor and helmet now gone, the little Goblinoid looked just as he always did.

Unmasked.

Bott released Adams, and Rhys let go of his wrist. Bott shook his head. "On my authority as _your _Prefect, embarrassing as _that_ is," Bott said in a dangerous tone, "FIFTY points from Slytherin! Madame Iceni will take it from here!" He gave the smaller boy a slight shove. The collective gasp was not limited to his own House, either.

He turned around to look for Rhys, wanting to apologize, but Rhys was already out the doors, head down.

The others followed him, leaving behind only silence and discarded masks trodden underfoot.

**Notes**:

easy to copy words:

Rónán

Taryn – Humphreys brother, Welsh, RC6, organist

Eachan – Celtic, "little horse"

Deartháir – Gaelic for 'brother'

King Deoradhán

MacMillan should be 'Macmillan', but who cares?

Ambasadóir – Gaelic for 'ambassador'

Mamaí – Gaelic for 'mom'

Khaavolaar – Goblin profanity

. ?title=Goblin_Language


	19. Chapter 19-Missing

**19 – Missing**

Over the years, the medical staff at Hogwarts had learned one very important thing about Halloween: there were going to be casualties. Students (if not a few teachers) usually began arriving in Hospital around two in the morning, all with the same complaint – gastrointestinal distress. To streamline treatments, it had been decided decades before that Prefects would be equipped with a medical kit containing metered doses of potions, and all students would have a dose waiting in their dormitory – just in case!

MacMillan and Humphreys saved the Firsties for last, after making sure that everyone was accounted for. "Well, at least Stratton up in Ravenclaw won't have to worry about Rhys," MacMillan was saying.

"Who?"

"The Goblinoid," MacMillan reminded him.

"Lucky kid, being able to eat anything," Humphreys stifled a burp. "Speaking of which..." He began, stopping at the door to the Firsties' dormitory and downing his own dose. The door was halfway open.

MacMillan held up a hand, as they listened.

"Leave it to Adams to ruin it," Rigel was saying.

"He's just being _him_, running his mouth," Magnus said.

"'Sticks and stones'," Ewan added.

"Easy for _you_ to say," Laddie countered.

"Yeah," Rhys agreed.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean, Lad?" Ewan asked.

MacMillan and Humphreys exchanged a look. She pulled her wand and whispered a Muffliato around them. "It's one-way, they won't hear us," she said in a normal voice. "Looks like we've got guests again."

"Lad? Wasn't that the kid with the goat mask?" Humphreys asked.

"It's not a mask," MacMillan informed him. "He's half Faun."

"How'd he hide the _horns_ so far?!" Humphreys wondered.

"Probably a Concealment Charm, and a painful one, poor kid," MacMillan sighed, "Your brother, Taryn said he had him fooled, remember?"

"This doesn't feel right," Humphreys mentioned, "Eavesdropping?"

"Open door? Invitation?" MacMillan guessed. "Maybe they _want_ someone to hear them?"

"Or maybe they're expecting someone else to come?" Humphreys reasoned.

"_You_ don't know what it's like," Rhys answered haltingly. "When people see me, they don't see how smart I am. They don't see a Ravenclaw, or even a _kid_. All they see is a dumb Goblin. Sticks and stones, Ewan? Words are weapons, too."

"You think _I_ don't know how it feels?" Ewan countered. "What do you see when you look at _me_? A good Hufflepuff kid who loves his friends like his family? NO! You see a big _fat kid_, admit it!"

"At least they see _a _kid," Lucas put in. "Admit it, guys. I scared Rhys, just by being a Sprite. Rónán scared Erik just by smelling like a werewolf, and some of us see Garrett as a light snack."

"But WE aren't like that!" Magnus objected.

"But WEREN'T we?" Sebastian countered. "At first? Weren't you afraid of me when I first changed?"

There was an awkward pause.

"Pass me that itch cream, would you?" Magnus finally mumbled, "My arm's at it again."

"You all seemed happy to meet _me_," Aries spoke up. "And what _I _see is a group of friends." He looked around. "It is only natural for a Selkie to fear a Werewolf or Werebear, and for _them _to fear each other. But your human side, your kindness, overcomes this. Besides, I don't think _anyone_ sees _me _as just another kid?"

"Rónán said that little Ronnie MacMillan would probably be happier with his own kind," Rigel sighed. "Least he wasn't here to hear that...to have...have everyone staring at him at the end."

Outside the door, Marjorie MacMillan bit her knuckles and made a small sound. Humphreys put a hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't know, Marjorie, I'm sorry," he whispered, as she patted his hand.

"Look at everything we had to go through because of _me_," Rigel added, "And we're not outta the woods _yet_."

"I just wanted to be what..._who_...I am," Laddie mumbled.

"Me too," Rigel added.

"And I do _not_ want to be," Rhys added. "You...y-you all have someone who...w-wants you," he added so quietly that Ewan didn't hear him.

"Did you listen to the Friar on Sunday?" Magnus reminded him. "_We_ want you."

"And why do you _care_ what this one stupid boy, or maybe a handful of others, thinks?" Aries asked. "My people have been laughing at you lot for over a century! You have such petty views of things. You only see Jupiter in the distance, when there are little comets hitting your heads."

There was a collective gasp of "HUH's?!"

"And Brian Bott took _fifty points _off of his own House," Lucas reminded them, "For what Adams said to you, Rhys. Don't forget that."

The Prefects were distracted by someone clearing his throat, and turned to see Sonny standing there with three boys in pyjamas and dressing gowns. They were obviously Firsties, and all carrying hall passes.

There was no way to tell what House they belonged in – only that they weren't Hufflepuffs. One of them, MacMillan had never seen before.

"P-pardon me, Miss?" A small boy with glasses asked, "Did Rhys and Garrett come down here again?" MacMillan nodded to him. "Well, we were wondering if they were coming back tonight?"

The Prefects looked at one another. "Well, Jordan and Poynter there I know, but we should have paid closer attention to the Sorting, I think?" Humphreys said. "I didn't know there _were_ more than two Ravenclaws? Or is it Slytherin?"

"Sorry! _Wilson_, Alistair Wilson, Ravenclaw," the small boy pushed his specs up. "There's only four of us, you know, and Jeremy and I, well, we don't much fancy being up there by ourselves. I mean with Garrett and Rhys not being human, you know, I don't think they like us, and...well...I wondered where they were going, but there's just so much to see here, and so many books, I know I'm not that social, Miss, sometimes I fall asleep in the library and..." he ran on breathlessly.

"Are you related to our Liam Creevey?" MacMillan cut him off.

"You want me to see if Erik and Lad plan to stay?" Humphreys asked Aaron Jordan, but the bald boy shook his head.

"Just give them the pass, if they want to come later. Sonny'll take me back up, thanks." Aaron turned to leave.

"And you?" Humphreys asked the remaining boy, but he simply pointed to his ears, shook his head, touched his chest, and then pointed at the floor. "Poynter, yes, I think we have one of your mates," Humphreys nodded. "You want to stay?"

"That other _awful_ little boy bothering you?" MacMillan asked, but Poynter shook his head and mimed glasses and a long beard, pointing at the ceiling, along with some other hand signs.

"Why aren't you talking?" Humphreys wondered. "Did someone stick you with that new Vocal-cord-Locker Curse that's making the rounds?"

Connor nodded. Humphreys tapped the boy's throat with his wand.

"Thanks!" He coughed it out, "No, Adams is in the Headmaster's office, and from what I heard, he's _really_ getting his ar-...butt chewed out!" Connor smiled. "It's OK, I'm used to it. I didn't learn to talk until I was like six, when they tried to fix my ears."

"Who used the Curse on you, Connor?" MacMillan demanded.

"Adams," Connor confessed. "I was giving him what-for for making fun of Laddie or Rhys and them."

"You were all alone in your dorm?" Humphreys pressed him, and Connor nodded.

"He said Lucas looked like a girl, with that outfit and headband. I tried to tell him it was an Elvin formal suit, but he just laughed. And he called Aries a m-..."

"C'mon," Humphreys took his hand. "You're going to interrupt Headmaster Weasley's arse-chewing!"

"You'll only make it _worse_!" Connor gasped.

"I don't think so," MacMillan smiled, calling for Tweaky to Apparate them. "Go!"

"Don't be up too late, we only have a two hour delay tomorrow," Humphreys reminded her. "I'll go with the boy."

As they all left, MacMillan went to sit by the fire in the Common Room, wondering whose great idea it had been for the Firstie boys' dorm to be in direct line of sight down the corridor from it? She cast a Charm and listened, feeling only a bit guilty about eavesdropping on them. After all, she was worried. As she listened, she couldn't help but think of Rónán, and her little brother. She tried to busy her mind by going over the 'inventory' of new First Years, but it didn't help. After all, she already had most of them in Hufflepuff.

"There just aren't as many kids anymore," she wondered, pondering the fact that Hufflepuff was the largest house for Firsties now, probably for the first time ever. "Times are changing," she told herself, listening to the boys...and worrying.

"You think _that's_ bad, they were going to _expel _me!" Rigel said.

"For wrecking a broom?" Laddie, she thought, asked.

"No, for being a Leprechaun," Rigel explained. "That's why we tried so hard to hide it."

"I know," Laddie agreed, "Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Those are _so _cool, though!" Ewan exclaimed, and she thought he must have been talking about Laddie's horns.

"Yeah, but they scare people," Laddie sighed. "And my eyes. I guess I'm more Faun than human. At least _you_ (he was saying to someone) can pass as human without trying."

"Only to someone _not_ trained to look," Garret replied. "With hair and eyes like this? I think Sebastian's probably the only one who _doesn't_ have to work at it."

"It's not all you think," Sebastian replied, "Like tonight, you think all those girls wanted to dance with me because of _me_, or because I am _Veela_? I always wonder if people like me because they _do,_ or if it's because of what I _am_."

"Trust us, we like you for _you_," Rigel assured him.

"At least you lot know _what_ you are," Magnus sniffled, and MacMillan sat up straighter. "I've had to have, erm, two treatments so far for lycanthropy, and I _still_ show signs of it."

"The werewolf _is_ unique," Aries put in, "It is a magical creature that only exists for one night of the month, technically. Teddy Lupin had a brilliant idea to combine that potion of his with the Animagus Spell to harness the power of it."

"It hurt when he tested me," Magnus admitted.

"Try regrowing horns overnight," Laddie snorted.

"Imagine your whole body feeling like that all at once," Magnus mumbled softly, and MacMillan barely heard him. "I thought that few seconds would kill me! Poor Rónán!" He choked. "N-No wonder he l-likes to stay half-and-half all the time."

"Stop picking at that scar, Mag, you'll get it bleeding again!"

"Pass me that stomach potion, would you?" Someone else asked.

"We should probably go to bed," Rhys said. "We're very past curfew."

"Rónán won't be back, and we can double up again," Rigel suggested, "If you wanna stay."

"I wish I'd been sorted here," Rhys said.

"Me too," Someone else added, and MacMillan felt a swell of pride. How many times over the years, even before coming to Hogwarts, had she heard Hufflepuff put down as "a load of duffers" or "the house for leftovers"?

"It will not be so bad in the morning," Aries advised them.

MacMillan yawned as "goodnights" were said, and the room eventually went quiet. She carefully flicked her wand and turned their torch down after a bit, when it sounded like they'd all fallen asleep. Then she gently closed the door.

In his dream, Magnus was sitting outdoors on a tall, red stool in his Leprechaun garb. The day was warm and sunny, but with a chill to the breeze that suggested autumn. He wondered that the first of November should be so warm as he looked down at the grass.

Something was wrong.

"The Leprechauns have touched you," someone said, and Magnus gasped to see a large, white wolf talking to him.

"Wh-who are _you_?!" Magnus squeaked, nearly falling off his stool.

"_**I**_am the _white_ wolf," The white wolf answered, nodding. "I see you can still talk to canines? Good!"

Magnus blinked at his answer. "_Really_?!" He laughed, "I never would have guessed."

"I am that which replaced the Black Wolf of Madness a century before," the wolf clarified, "And I am sorry this happened to you, Magnus Gove," the wolf said, shaking his head, "Rarely do my children do such things. You are fortunate to have such a powerful friend, who would throw himself in front of such magic for you." He sniffed Magnus' wounded hand. "Then again, perhaps_ he_ is the fortunate one, Ambasadóir?"

"How do you know that word?" Magnus asked. "And why am I dreaming you?"

"Perhaps _I_ am dreaming _you_," the wolf replied. "You are my child, Rónán's, _mo charra_ as well. His dear friend."

"How do _you_ know Rónán?"

"All werewolves, true or natural or hybrid, are my children, Magnus," he explained, giving the boy a good sniff, "As are _you_, a hybrid."

Magnus froze.

"I...I...d-don't...I mean, Mr. Lupin said..."

"His cure would not have held," the wolf went on, "Although it _should_ have. I do not understand it. It has worked before. You are unique among humans and Weres, Magnus Scot Gove VI. You are both, and yet neither."

Magnus sighed. "Tha's our problem, me an my friends. We're not quite human, but we're not altogether 'whatever' either, like Rhys or Rigel, or..."

"I know," the wolf interrupted him. "But Aries was right, you know. Be happy in what you are, you Child of Two Worlds. Use the talents you have. Make your family, your House, proud."

"Is Rónán OK?" Magnus asked.

"Even now, he howls with the delight of the hunt," the white wolf smiled a wolfy smile, his tongue lolling and eyes sparkling, "Listen," he cocked his head, as the sky darkened, filling with a full moon and stars.

Somewhere, a wolf howled.

Magnus could hear the joy in it.

"Rónán isn't happy here, I don't think," Magnus added. "He _wanted _to come to Hogwarts, but... but...some of the kids are mean to him."

"Some of them are mean to your other human friend, too, the deaf one?" The wolf asked, "How is that different?"

"I guess it's not," Magnus had to agree, "Still, it's not fair! People are afraid of us because we're different, and they even wanted to expel Rigel! And our Prefect's little brother, he won't even come here next year! Rónán said he...they'd...be better off with their own kind."

"Perhaps, but perhaps_ others _think that way, too, Magnus," the wolf mused. "Perhaps humans are not the only ones to judge too quickly."

"Yeah," Magnus admitted, "I know. Still...?"

"Ronnie," the wolf nodded knowingly, "I know him. _He_ is my child as well. He could use a big brother to train him up," the wolf added, "Or two."

"Oh, no!" Magnus held up his hands.

"Think about what your Leprechaun friend did, Magnus," the wolf smiled brighter, "Think about what he said, and what I said. I must leave you now, to be with my children! But know this – I _am_ ever with you." He licked Magnus' face, turned, and then vanished into the tall grass.

The 'very' tall grass. There was strange, shaggy cow looking at him.

Magnus then realized he wasn't sitting a stool. He was sitting on a red mushroom.

Aries had been right – that next day wasn't so bad. There were even two new faces at their usual spot at the end of the Hufflepuff table. Garrett and Rhys blinked in surprise. "Uhm, mates, this is Alistair Wilson, and Greene Minor, our other Ravenclaws," Garrett introduced them.

"Jeremy Greene, actually," the slightly taller boy introduced himself, running a hand through his messy dirty-blond hair. "My older brother is in Slytherin, Seventh Year, though, so I won't have to dodge him for long!"

Down the table a ways, Miss MacMillan nodded to the boys.

"We're sorry we've not been very friendly," Wilson began, "But there's just so much to see and do here!" He paused.

"Very Ravenclaw of you," Rigel nodded.

"Here it comes," Rhys mumbled.

"Well, what with you two not being...you know...human," Greene Minor lowered his voice, and the boys all rolled their eyes, "We...we didn't think you fancied _us_ much, so we've tried to stay out of your way. Sorry," he admitted, tugging on Wilson's sleeve to go.

"What?!" Several of the Scoffers squeaked.

"You thought _we_ didn't like_ you_?" Garrett laughed.

"I thought _you_ were afraid of _me_!" Rhys grinned.

"Well, as much as you're never in the tower," Greene Minor put in, "Wish _I_ wasn't."

"He's dead scared of heights," Wilson supplied. "Anyway, sorry again. Just so you know, it's all right with us, if you don't want us around."

Erik's nose twitched. "Sehr human," he smiled. "You do nicht know much about...us...do you?"

"Well, we heard that Malfoy was a bloomin' Leprechaun, but _everyone _knows there's no such thing," Wilson went on. Rigel showed them his ear. "OH! So you're a Dusky Elf, you know, the kind what come out at sunset?"

Lucas snorted into his juice, giggling.

"I have a pot of gold," Rigel pushed his luck.

"Dusky Elves like mine shafts," Greene Minor nodded, "Is it true you can smell gold?"

"Yes," Rigel gave up.

"Why don't you sit down?" Sebastian suggested.

They did that. Wilson pushed his specs up, staring at Sebastian in wonder.

"Turn it off, Precious!" Rigel smacked his arm. "_Merlin's_ sake, he's a BOY!"

They all had a good laugh at that, as Sebastian explained that sometimes his Veela side tended to 'backfire'. Wilson was clearly embarrassed, but finally laughed.

"Have _another_ coffee, won't you?" Rigel sighed. "With all that chocolate you ate last night, it's a wonder half the girls in the school aren't over here!"

"Or a few boys," Lucas snickered.

As if on queue, Miss Harper of Slytherin strolled over and whispered something in Sebastian's ear. He turned very red, and his dark eyes went wide. She giggled, going back to her friends.

Sebastian muttered something in French. "How _un_ladylike!" He gasped, which was enormously funny.

"Is this screwy, specky little git bothering you?" A tall boy in a Slytherin robe asked, as he walked up with Brian Bott. They assumed it was Greene Major, as Jeremy rolled his eyes and snorted. "Just stopped by to see if my baby brother needed his nose wiped, or his nappie [diaper] changed?"

"Oh, sod off, Jeffrey!" Jeremy snapped.

Bott patted Magnus' shoulder and smiled at him. "You'll be happy to know that Aidan Adams won't be annoying you any more," he informed them.

"Why?" Most of the boys asked. Aries cocked an eyebrow, and his tail swished.

"He's been put on final warning," Bott shrugged, dropping a sack of Beans in Rhys' lap. "Let me know what you think?" And off they went.

"Daft tosser," Greene Minor muttered.

"You've met Adams?" Connor asked, shaking his head. "Gods, I didn't expect this!"

"No, my brother," Green Minor clarified.

"Yes, you look perfectly capable of changing your own nappies," Ewan grinned at him.

"Mates, this is _serious_," Magnus interrupted their snickering. "He's a pain in the arse, yes, but a _final warning_?"

"One more screw up and they'll chuck him out," Rigel grinned.

"I should have kept quiet," Connor muttered. "But your Prefects talked me into telling the Headmaster last night."

"You came by last night?" Lucas asked.

"You were asleep, I think," Connor nodded. "Adams had...had...locked my vocal cords, you know, that new one that's makin' the rounds. I didn't know what else to do. Bott was up the Astronomy Tower with Harper's older sister, and..."

"_All_ right, then!" Aaron cut in, "Great night for it! Nice moon! So what'd Headmaster Weasley say?"

"He was mad," Connor whispered. "His whole head was almost purple!"

"Wow! My dad said Hogwarts hasn't expelled a kid since..." Ewan began, but Connor cut him off.

"...since they expelled Aidan Adams' dad!"

"I should probably write _my_ dad," Lucas put in.

"Why?" They all asked.

"He's a lawyer, remember? I have a feeling we're going to need one before this term is over."

Magnus didn't really expect Bott or his friends to show up for their scheduled scoff, but they did. Coincidentally, which Rigel only snickered at, it was Madame Iceni's night to patrol the corridors, and she came with them. The boys served Roulette Biscuits, much to Bott's delight, from his presorted offerings of Every Flavor Beans.

"What was it you gave Rhys?" Magnus had to ask.

"Prototype flavor," Bott grinned, "Braunschweiger!" They all blinked at him. "Pork liver pate of sorts?" The boys, except for Magnus and Aries, were all disgusted.

"Speaking of pork innards, where's Wolfboy tonight?" Madame Iceni asked.

"Camping out with Teddy Potter somewhere, Miss," Magnus replied, still sticking to his mannerly assertion of treating Madame Iceni like a lady instead of teacher. "Lucky _he_ missed the masquerade ball."

"About that," Bott offered, "I'm really sorry, boys," he apologized again, "And I'd appreciate it if you'd pass that along to your other mates?"

"Yeah, don't judge us too quickly," Greene Major added with a huff, "Hell, it's been over a century, and we're _still _the bad guys."

"Don't feel bad," Rigel told him, "It's been a _thousand_ years, and _we're_ still the bad guys."

"Well, _some_ of you Elvin lot _are_ a pretty nasty bunch," Greene offered. Rigel gave him a look, "Although Bole seems to be a pretty good kid. If we could just keep him out of the Black Lake."

"Just how many points _is_ getting caught at night swimming worth, I wonder?" Madame Iceni smiled.

"Who'd want to swim in the Black Lake at night? It's _freezing_ out there!" Ewan gasped.

"And you'd get attacked by all sorts of things!" Sebastian added.

"Bole said it was 40F (4c), and that was good for him," Bott shivered, "Last time I was on rounds, and I caught him and that other Ravenclaw fellow, Gary? Sneaking back in, dripping wet. Caretaker Smith made them mop the floor!"

"Garrett," Sebastian corrected him, "And for a Selkie, that's _bathwater_, I think!"

"So, Aries, how are you finding life at Hogwarts?" Madame Iceni asked.

"Honestly, I think you're a _very _odd lot," Aries replied honestly. "You get upset over trivial things, all you seem to do is eat and sleep, and this obsession with bathing and clothing is not natural. When was the last time you saw a horse in pyjamas? That, and it's awfully warm inside." In fact, no one noticed that Aries wasn't wearing his pyjamas until he mentioned it.

"Anything else?" Bott wondered.

"You are capable of great kindness," Aries nodded, looking puzzled, "But I do not understand why only some of you are, and why that kindness does not extend to all creatures?"

"Because some of us are just idiots," Greene replied, "And to be honest, I think some of us are...well...a bit afraid of what we don't understand."

"Are you afraid of _me_?" Aries asked, "Are you afraid of little Rónán, even though he is registered as safe? And when Sebastian saved the life of another student, why were so many of the others afraid of him then?"

"I wonder if Addie ever had a run-in with some kind of part-human, or exotic Being?" Bott wondered. "And let me tell you something!" He added, "There's not a girl _in _our House who's afraid of you!"

"To be honest, I never thought we'd be sitting here a midnight eating biscuits with anyone from Slytherin," Rigel put in, "Much less be best friends with a couple of them."

"To be honest, I still can't get over you sorting into Hufflepuff," Madame Iceni reminded him. "Then again, your father stunned us all when he sorted into Gryffindor, and Henry went into Slytherin. It was almost a turnabout." She finished her biscuit, staring past the boys as if studying the back wall. "I often wonder where Henry is now."

Magnus choked on his milk._ If you only knew! _He thought.

"You went to school with Dad?" Rigel seemed shocked.

"Yes," she nodded slowly. Then she rose and smoothed her robes. "I think that's enough for tonight, boys," as she regally exited the kitchen.

"That was odd," Sebastian wondered.

"Wasn't it?" Rigel agreed.

That next morning, Rónán wasn't in his bed. He wasn't back by lunchtime. By dinner, the boys were beginning to worry. They were still sitting at the end of the Hufflepuff table when the House Elves appeared to start them to cleaning up for their ongoing detention.

"He should have been back by now," Magnus fretted, scrubbing at some spilled gravy with a sponge.

"Isn't he with an Auror?" Aries asked.

"What if they got lost?" Connor wondered, he and the others having hung around to help.

"Werewolves don't _get_ lost," Magnus replied, unsure of just _why_ he knew that.

"He's probably sleeping it off somewhere," Aaron mused.

"But what if he changes back? It's cold outside! He'll freeze to death!" Ewan exclaimed.

"Mates, Rónán's been a werewolf all his life. He's been trained up since he were a puppy," Aries reminded them, "With the mental and physical alterations to him, with that potion they use now, he'll stay in control. He hardly ever looks totally human, either? Remember? He won't change back if he's cold. He'll stay a wolf and find a hole to sleep it off in, trust me. We've seen it before."

"What _is_ this stain?" Sebastian complained, scrubbing away at something.

"Could be spider meat?" Lucas joked, sticking his tongue out.

Something clicked in Magnus' head. "Aries, you said your people cook Acromantulas, like crabs?"

"You should try it," Aries smiled. "They're really delicious."

"Just don't say they taste like chicken," Garrett sniffed.

"How many chickens have you ever seen in the Forest?" Aries laughed.

"No, it's not that," Magnus went on, "Hagrid said that Razorflies were extinct, because the spiders had eaten them all. But he also said the spider population had dropped, and that's why they came back and Rónán got infected with the worms."

"Well, they _were_ getting out of control," Aries nodded. "They would have eaten the entire Forest fauna into extinction, then they'd have had nothing to eat but each other."

"Scratch that idea, then," Magnus shook his head, "I thought someone might have been out to get Rónán and poisoned him or something."

"Mag," Rhys sniffed, having splashed his mop water all over, "You're getting carried away with this detective thing!"

Rigel paused, holding up a long bench to put it up on the table. They all stared at him, especially Ewan and Connor, who were each on the end of another one and struggling with it. "Sorry," Rigel mumbled. "But I was thinking," they all snickered at him, "Have any of us actually _seen_ a Razorfly? It'd be pretty _rotten_ luck to actually _get_ bit by one, close as Rónán and his escorts stay?"

"No one in my herd was infected," Aries put in, "When Hagrid checked us over."

They all looked from Aries to Rigel. "I'm rubbish at maths, but I'd say the odds of Rónán getting bit, without some _help_, are like a million to one!"

"Probably higher," Harry spoke up, coming through the doorway, and the boys all jumped. He pulled an assortment of wands from his pocket, each of which floated back to its master. "Let's get this done," he flicked his wand, and the mops all seemed to come to life. "We need to talk, but not here."

When the job was done, Harry took the boys back to his office. "When Teddy Potter didn't report in on time, we sent out scouts," Harry began. "It's procedure. The Werewolf Division does not, and _cannot,_ tolerate late check-ins. The fact that they're missing, and the fact that we can't locate them, indicates foul play. I tend to agree about the Razorflies, too. I don't think Rónán had a random infection."

The boys all gasped.

"But Aries said the Acromantula population dropped because..." Magnus began, but Harry cut him off.

"When planning to do someone in, Watson, use what's available, and effective," Harry explained. "This was a golden opportunity for someone who might have wanted to get rid of Rónán – or any of you part-humans," he added darkly. "Boys, the main reason you...those of you that aren't quite human...are being watched so closely is that we have reason to believe you might be in danger."

"WHAT?!" They all gasped.

"At first, we were worried about Rigel," Harry explained, "And I admit, I wasn't too keen on the idea of keeping him here. We seem to have that well in hand now, but the fact that a lot of you are natural or even sworn enemies made things look suspicious. Having a Werewolf and a Werebear together, for instance – or a Goblin and a Sprite. See what I mean?"

They all nodded.

"Some of your relatives, human or not," Harry went on, "May still think that you'd be better off with your own kind."

Magnus stiffened at that comment. "Sir?" He cut in, finally deciding that he should tell them what he knew about Rónán, his first letter he'd accidentally seen, and his dream about the white wolf.

"My father said something like that, too," Aries admitted.

"So did my folks," Laddie added.

"At least you were _honest_ about it, sir," Magnus glared at Harry.

"Rigel, I _am _truly sorry," Harry said, but the boy wouldn't meet his gaze. "Are you all right, boy?"

"I haven't felt quite right since the night Mum were here, and we made all those COG cakes," Rigel admitted.

"Halloween?" Harry wondered.

"No sir, we all had the stomach potions," Ewan offered. "No one got sick."

"I _can't_ get sick off of candy," Rigel reminded him.

"Could be lack of sunlight, Nephew," Harry told Rigel. "Next sunny day, I want you out in it."

"Yes, sir," Rigel nodded, rubbing his hands on his robes. He still didn't look at Harry, and Magnus could see the hurt on his face. It surprised him, given what Harry had told him. _Henry_, he reminded himself, knowing full well how the _real_ Harry Potter felt about Leprechauns.

"But back to what I was saying," Harry went on, "We thought Rhys might be a threat to Rigel, being a Goblin and all. Then we were worried that _Rhys_ might be in danger, since the first rule of assassination is to kill the assassins." Rhys looked shocked. "You're a rare prize, Rhys," Harry reminded him. "It was the wildest of chance, even luck, that you showed up here when Rigel did." He looked around at all of them. "But it's obvious that you lot care a great deal for each other. I don't see Lucas going to war with Rhys, Erik hasn't tried to eat Garrett, and Laddie hasn't, erm, butted anyone. Nice horns," he added. "Boys, I'm sorry you and your parents thought you had to hide who you are to fit in. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened at the masquerade ball."

"But what about Rónán?" Magnus insisted.

"I think your dream might have something to do with it," Harry admitted. "I've heard the legend of the white wolf, but I never believed it. So as of last night, Rónán was safe and happy and hunting something?"

"I...I sort of have this picture in my head of a shaggy cow," Magnus offered.

"A kyloe coos," Harry nodded, "Plenty of farms have them." He sighed. "Gods, I hope Teddy didn't nab one of _them_. Those things are _expensive_ to replace!"

About then, the Floo lit up. "Any luck, Potter?" A vague shape asked from the embers.

"No, you?" Harry replied.

"Nothing. I think you better put the kiddies to bed and come and join us!" The man suggested, and then he was gone.

"Boys, we'll finish this later. Bed!" He ordered them, scribbling out a corridor pass for each House. "Rigel?" He called the boy back, kneeling down to his level. "Nephew, I really _am_ sorry." He hugged him.

"It's all right, sir, I wouldn't trust me either," Rigel sighed, as he ran along to catch his friends.

"They stay close," Magnus mused, as the Hufflepuffs entered the Cellar. "That means that Mr. Potter didn't take Rónán too far."

"So where's the closest farm what has kyloe coos cows?" Ewan asked.

The boys all shrugged. "We need someone who knows everything," Sebastian said. Then his eyes went wide. "The Twins, no?!"

"SONNY!" Magnus snapped, and the Elf appeared. He was very nervous about Rónán not being back yet, and was very excited to leave. Sonny's problem was that he couldn't. "Go and fetch the Twins, would you?"

"Is this about Master Rónán?" Sonny asked, and when the boys nodded, he was gone.

He was back in a flash with the Twins. "_Warn_ us next time...-" - "...-why don't you?" They complained.

"Cousins," Rigel spoke up, "Where's the nearest shaggy cow farm from here?"

""About twenty kilometers past the village?"" They both replied. ""Why?""

"Rónán's missing," Magnus informed them. "The Aurors can't find him."

The Twins looked sly. "So you're going...-" - "...-to sneak out and try?"

The boys nodded.

"What makes you think...-"  
"-...you can find him...-"  
"-...when the Aurors...-"  
"-...don't even have a clue?" The Twins asked.

"I had a dream," Magnus offered, holding out his hands. "And I feel lucky."

"Yeah, but _I_ feel peaky," Rigel sighed.

"You _can't _be ill...-"  
"-...with all the sugar...-"  
"-..._and_ alcohol you've had!" The Twins reminded him.

"Guys, we need cover, then," Rigel nodded, shaking his head. "With the extra security, is the hole still open?"

The Twins nodded.

"Doppelganger spell!" The Twins agreed, as they waved their wands and illusions of the boys appeared in their beds.

"You're forgetting something, Mag," Sebastian spoke up, "I can see well enough in the dark, and fly, but I'm no owl. We could also use a sensitive nose, and _ours _is missing!"

"We're also Firsties," Ewan reminded them, "We'd not last long in a fight."

"We need a nose, and some muscle," Magnus thought. He snapped his fingers. "Hagrid and Spot!"

"ARE YOU MAD?!" They all gasped. "Tell a teacher?"

Then Magnus' gaze fell upon Rónán's trunk. Again, the white wolf's words from his dream came back to him. He remembered Rigel's words as well. Magnus knew what he had to do as he scratched at his arm again.

"What are you doing, that's _his _stuff?" Rigel gasped.

"Accio, Animous Potion!" Magnus pulled his wand, catching the small bottle as it flew out of the trunk. The label read: "One Child's Dose - Werewolf."

"You're not going to _drink_ that?" Ewan gasped. "You'd be a full-blown were-..."

"No," Magnus cut him off, "I _wouldn't._ Rigel's already seen to that," they exchanged knowing glances. "And I've already _been_ bitten. The cure failed, and I don't think the last treatment will hold, either. Then there was that dream."

"You're going to turn yourself...-"  
"-...into a wolf...-"  
"-...based solely...-"  
"-...on a _dream_?! The Twins gasped.

"No, I have a head start, I wonder?" Magnus replied.

Magnus pulled the cork and downed the potion.

The room began to spin, and the pain hit him all at once. It didn't last, though, as the potion took hold. Magnus' DNA magically shifted and he changed form. The room filled with smells, as colors faded in more subdued hues. Sounds became sharper, and Magnus was suddenly aware of the feel of the rug under his four feet. He tried to talk, but it came out as a shrill bark.

"SHHHHH!" They all gasped.

"Great, _now_ he can't tell us his plan," Rigel huffed.

"We goes to the cows farm," Sonny shrugged, "Then Masters Magnus and Masters 'Bastian takes it from there."

"What do _I_ do?" Ewan sounded sulky, as Magnus tried to get the feel of walking around on four feet and falling down a lot.

"Not as easy as it looks, is it?" Aries laughed.

"Sonny," Fabian said, "Fetch our brooms, and our mate, Evan's, will you?"  
"We're coming with you," Gideon told them. "Recon!"

"But from the air? You'll be seen?" Sebastian said.

""They'll think we're just Aurors in the search,"" The Twins replied.

After dressing, they slipped out the loading bay doors, through the roses, and down towards Hagrid's. Fortunately, he was still up.

"YER ALL BLOODY MENTAL!" He shouted at them, flinching at himself, and dragging them all inside. "What makes yeh think yeh knows where Rónán is?"

Magnus barked at him. Spot sniffed his nose and wagged his tail.

"Oh, dear!" Hagrid gasped, counting noses, and grabbing up his umbrella and an odd broomstick to which he'd attached a sidecar.

The door opened.

"You're not thinking of going without us?" The rest of the honorary Scoffers and Sonny asked.

"The Black Lake runs into a creek, which is up from the recent rains," Garrett said. "Lucas and I can take that, it feeds into several farms down the way. Trust us?"

"You need a Goblin to see in the dark," Rhys smiled, dressed in full battle regalia and carrying a battleaxe.

"I can follow you on foot," Laddie nodded, tapping his horns, "Faun horns repel many spells, and make good head-butters!" He pointed at his furry legs. "I can keep up!"

"You vill be surprised how schnell a bear can move," Erik added. "Nice tail!" He complimented Magnus, who wasn't quite used to it yet.

"We're all goin' ter Azkaban Prison when this is over," Hagrid sighed, putting Spot in the sidecar. "All right then, let's _do_ it!"

"Hey, what about me?" Rigel asked, as Aries whisked him up onto his back.

"I won't tell if you won't," the colt smiled.

Those that _could_ changed form, while the others took to the sky on broomsticks.

Once turned loose, Magnus soon found himself feeling as if he could run forever. It didn't take long to get the feel of the forest floor, and he let the image in his mind guide him. His nose filled with the smells of the night, and for what his eyes lacked, his other heightened senses more than made up for. The lion, he thought, might be the king of beasts in folklore, but _he _was the king of the forest – the _wolf_!

_Why _didn't_ I ever listen to Rónán? _He wondered, exulting in his new body.

Even Aries, with Rigel on his back, had a hard time keeping up with him.

"What kept you?" Garrett asked, as they arrived at the first farm with its lake.

"The Merfolk have searched the Black Lake and watersheds," Lucas added, "No bodies. This one's clear too."

"You all right?" Garrett asked a panting Rhys.

"Been a while, but I am fine," the Goblin nodded.

Magnus was casting about, sniffing, tail wagging, as was Spot. Magnus barked once, his left front paw going up in a curl.

"He's got the scent!" Ewan gasped, skillfully landing amongst them. "The Twins haven't seen any Aurors yet!"

"Follow the wolf," Hagrid shrugged, as Magnus and Spot took off at full speed.

"Double up, you're out of water!" The Twins suggested, picking up Garrett and Lucas.

"Next farm over, perhaps," Aries said, "It's gonna be a long run, though!"

They ran on into the night for what seemed like forever, but given their part-human status, the boys handled it well, each according to his gifts. Garrett and Lucas dived into the river they had to cross, splitting up, and sent up red sparks with their wands when they'd found nothing. The Twins picked them up to rendezvous with the others.

Then a sickening howl cut the night.

"I don't like the sound of that," Laddie said.

"STOP!" Rigel screamed, and Aries nearly threw him as he skidded to a halt.

"What is it?" Sonny asked, poking a long finger at seemingly nothing in front of them.

"LEPRECHAUN MAGIC!" Rigel shouted, snapping his fingers as a wall of pale green mesh appeared in front of them. "Don't touch it!" He ordered them, looking up at it. It seemed to extend up into the sky, fading into the waning moonlight. He walked up to it, tentatively touched it, then walked through it. "All right, I know what it is," he told them, "It's cloaking field! No wonder they couldn't find Rónán, this close to where he should have been!"

"Can we get through it?" Sebastian asked, landing and changing only the form of his face.

Rigel probed it again. "No. Whoever put this here must have know we'd be coming!" He reasoned. "We need to get in there, get Rónán, and get OUT! This is probably a trap!" He looked all around, then pulled his wand. "Good luck catching _us_!" He snapped, laughing sarcastically, as a flash of the same dull green light shot out of his wand, tearing away at the barrier. "Get through it, _now_!" He told them.

Still, Magnus howled.

At least, they assumed it was Magnus.

"How'd _he_ get through the barrier?" Lucas asked.

"No clue," Rigel replied, "It was cast to keep humans and parts _out_!"

On they ran, following the awful sound, which then turned into snapping and snarling. Hagrid kicked his broomstick as hard as it would go, grabbing Rigel off of Aries' back as they surged ahead.

"FALL BACK!" Rigel then screamed, as Hagrid banked hard, throwing him off. The small boy landed on his own cushioning charm, his clothing changing to his Leprechaun garb and his wand shining in green.

Before them, Magnus the wolf was engaged in a physical fight with a figure in black. His hood was up, and he was firing Curses at the attacking wolf. Rigel took aim. "I feel _lucky_ tonight! **AVERTE STATEM**!" He smirked, as he too opened fire. His first Curse hit the attacker and bounced, but the distraction was enough for Magnus to be able to savage the attacker's arm. He got the wand and bit it in half, yelping in pain as the wand exploded in a small fireball of magic. Rigel got in another good shot, knocking the assailant away.

Then a blast of green light headed right at Rigel.

"NO!" Rhys yelled, leaping between them and batting it away with his ax. He was panting and snarling, advancing upon his foe, moving his ax from side to side.

"Stay back!" Hagrid snapped, "Tha's Leprechaun magic, _that_ is! Yeh boys don' stand a chance against that!" Even Sonny backed down.

"We'll see," Lucas sniffed, drawing a long sword from his tunic, that couldn't possibly have fit in there as he joined Rhys, shielding Rigel.

"**Who are you**?!" Rigel demanded, but the figure in black only laughed. Rigel sniffed, noted that the man wasn't all that tall. Magnus righted himself again and advanced, tail slowly moving, fangs bared.

They both smelled cinnamon, sugar, and shamrocks.

_Know that I am with you, always, _Magnus heard the voice of the white wolf in his mind.

"You _dare_ challenge ME, cac-eating scum?" Rigel defied him, "You_ dare _hurt my friends? WHERE is the werewolf, Rónán?"

"Ehhh, yeh sawed off soggy little faggot*," The man replied, "Wha's to defy?"

Insults then began to fly, profanities so vile that even Hagrid blushed.

Rigel fired again, his wand erupting in a violent, ugly green Curse. The man batted it aside. "_You_ have no power over _me_, **Little** Prince!" the figure laughed again, "Take your mangy cur and be gone! _My _work here is done!"

Lucas threw his sword, as Rhys threw his ax.

And with that, the figure vanished into a flash of the same pale green light. The weapons clattered to the ground.

"_Bas_tard!" Rigel spat.

"Hagrid, **here**!" Rhys yelled.

"Boys, lights," Hagrid then said a small voice, moving away from them. He bent down. He then rose and turned, and as Twins raised their wands brighter, Hagrid moved back towards them.

In his arms, he carried a broken and bloody, very small, wolf.

"Over here!" Erik called, having changed form.

The other boys followed his voice, wands lit, and found Erik kneeling over another larger wolf. He touched his neck, then changed form and sniffed him. He cocked his head near the wolf's face, and changed form again. "He ist alive, but only just!" Erik called.

"This looks like a physical beating," Fabian said, scanning the man with his wand.

"It's Uncle Teddy!" Gideon gasped, joining him to administer what first aid they could. "He didn't go down without a fight," Gideon agreed.

"Everyone, distress calls!" Hagrid ordered them, gently laying Rónán across his lap and examining him. They all fired red sparks high into the night sky, hoping the Aurors would see it now, as Hagrid began chanting a complex healing spell.

Magnus whimpered, laying his muzzle across Hagrid's knee. The huge man knelt there in the grass, then dropped his wand, and looked into the small wolf's golden eyes.

He shook his head.

Magnus the wolf raised his head and howled, a sound so terrible that as far away as Hogwarts, roosting birds took flight from the trees. Lights came on all over the village, and in the scattered farmsteads.

And again, Magnus howled.

"Mag," Hagrid choked, "It's over."

Sonny collapsed.

All around them, flashes of light announced the arrival of Aurors. They surrounded the scene, and then three of them advanced.

The boys recognized all but one.

"**Dad**!" The Twins squeaked, lowering their wands, as Harry Potter, Orion Malfoy, and Artie Weasley confronted them.

"_Ex_plain this, boys," Artie said in a low, dangerous tone. Then he saw Teddy Potter.

Harry froze as well. Had Magnus not been so lost in his grief, his nose would have told him that this was _not_ Henry Griffiths. But as he was new to being a wolf, the emotions overwhelmed him. He wanted to run, to howl, to destroy anything in his path.

Anything to make the pain stop.  
A member of his pack was dead.  
Someone was going to pay dearly.

"It's over," Hagrid's words repeated in his mind.

"This was a Leprechaun attack, sir," Rigel finally spoke up, tugging on Harry's sleeve.

"YOU! Might _know_ you'd be involved in this!" Harry snorted at the boy, turning to Hagrid, who still knelt with Rónán in his arms. As he approached, Magnus bared his fangs and snarled at Harry.

Harry smacked him across the muzzle, knocking him aside and taking aim at him with his wand. "Don't you snap at _me_, Gove!" He warned him, "I've taken out better wizards and wolves than _you_!" He then turned to the other Aurors. "Call for a medical team, then get Teddy to St. Mungo's! Call in Greyback and Lupin, too!" He ordered them.

"Sir?" Rigel persisted.

"YOU! _Shut_ it!" Harry snapped at him.

"NO!" Rigel exclaimed, "If it wasn't for _me_, you'd NEVER have found them! This was a Leprechaun attack, yeh bealin' eejit!"

"Harry!" Orion called, his voice breaking, as Magnus let him pass, "Harry, it's the Greyson boy. He's dead. We're too late!"

For a second, there was silence.

"It's over," Hagrid repeated, clutching Rónán to his breast as he trembled.

"It's _not _over!" Rigel then spoke up, moving towards the other boys with a ball of green fire dancing on the palm of his hand. The clouds moved away from the just-waning moon, so very nearly full, bathing them in its pale light.

"RIGEL, NO!" Orion shouted at him, but too late. A wall of force had gone up around the boys, as they encircled Hagrid and Magnus. Harry and Artie charged it, but were thrown back, as among the boys, a white wolf appeared.

"Haven't seen _him _a while," Harry muttered, lowering his wand, and glancing over to where the arriving medical teams were tending to his grandson.

Within their circle, each boy moved closer. Sebastian lowered the tip of his wing to place it on Rigel's hand. Erik placed his paw there. Garret, Rhys, and Laddie did the same. Then Lucas and Aries added theirs, each of them chanting something in his own native dialect. Shyly, Ewan offered his hand as well. Sonny stumbled over, and offered his hand, too, sobbing.

And then Magnus placed his paw atop their hands, adding another explosion of green light to the mix of non-human magic.

"Deartháir," Rigel whispered.

"It is _very _hard to kill a werewolf," The white wolf said in a human voice, and for just a second, Harry Potter closed his eyes.

"Deartháir," Rigel repeated.

And then both the light and the white wolf vanished.

In Hagrid's lap, Rónán whimpered as the boys collasped.

**Notes**:

easy to copy words:

Rónán

*faggot – fire starter bundles, don't work when wet

Alistair Wilson – RC1 + Jeremy? + Rhys and Garrett

Taryn – Humphreys' brother, Welsh, RC6, organist

Eachan – Celtic word, "little horse"

Deartháir – Gaelic for 'brother'

King Deoradhán

MacMillan should be 'Macmillan', but who cares?

Ambasadóir – Gaelic for 'ambassador'

Mamaí – Gaelic for 'mom'

Khaavolaar – Goblin profanity

"Honorary Hufflepuff – Hard Work/Best Friends"

Greene Minor – RC1 (Jeremy)

Green Major – S7 (Jeffrey)

Siblings at the same boarding schools are generally referred to as "major" and "minor" in favor of their names.

black kyloe coos – Scottish highland cattle


	20. Chapter 20-Full Houses, Empty Houses

**20 – Untitled**

That next morning, there wasn't a part-human student as Hogwarts who was _not_ in Hospital. Monitors above all the boys' beds indicated dangerously low vitals, and Teddy Lupin sat by Rónán's bed, forcing light from the small bit of moon rock to keep the boy in werewolf form. The rest of them were tucked in, except for Rigel, who lay behind a privacy screen, naked, in full sunlight. His mother sat by his bed, holding his hand, absently fondling the cold ring on his finger. Now and again, she would trace a finger over the blue veins just beneath his translucent skin, and touch his small, round ears and sigh.

Outside in the corridor, all but one of the rest of the Firsties, and a few girls, sat on the floor just outside the door.

Madame Marigold Pomfrey was beside herself, as was Sonny, who had made himself the nurse – despite being ordered out numerous times.

"They _need_ to be in St. Mungo's!" The Mediwitch kept telling the three Aurors.

"We _can't,_ Mari," Artie Weasley kept telling her, "We can't let _this_ get out!"

"And just _how_ the hell do we cover it up?" Orion asked him again, "_Half_ the bloody Isles heard that howling!"

"We _have_ to cover it up," Henry (now as Harry again) reminded them, "Magnus swallowed Teddy Lupin's fake-wolf potion, remember? Can you _imagine_ what'll happen if it gets out that we've got part-humans here peddling 'werewolf in a bottle'?"

"Every werewolf student for the past century has brought a bottle of that potion, just in case," Orion reminded him.

"Can you imagine what his _parents_ will say?" Harry spluttered. "'Oh, I hate to tell you, folks, but your son decided to turn himself into a wolf!'"

"I doubt it will bother them, as it takes a lot to ruffle a Gove," Hannah Longbottom cut in, as she walked in with her granddaughter. "How _is _my honorary grandson?"

"He's got second degree burns around his mouth, some loose teeth, his tongue's singed, sprained jaw, sprained neck, raw palms on hands and feet, one wrenched shoulder, but the good news is that he changed back into a _boy_ when he lost consciousness," Orion recited the list. "That in itself seems to have repaired a great deal of the damage to his wolf form."

"Oh, cure didn't hold?" Hannah asked, as if nothing at all were amiss.

"He took the Animous Potion to track down Rónán, Auntie," Teddy Lupin answered her, shaking his head. "This is all _my_ fault. I should _never_ have let Rónán come here, not after the MacLeod incident with the Gove boy." She went to his side and put her hands on his shoulders.

"No, Teddy, it's _not_ your fault," she assured him.

"You and Niamh are only making things worse," Orion reminded them. "We have yet to contact the other parents."

Niamh Malfoy came out from the behind the screen shielding her son. "With any luck, the sun will shine all day," she announced, and Orion winced. "Husband, I _will_ see this place where the Greyson boy and Auror Potter were attacked. Take me there."

"Formidable, isn't she?" Artie grinned.

"And those two hellions of _yours!_" Harry informed him, "Don't forget,_ they _were right in the thick of this mess, _too_! It was probably _their_ idea!"

"So was Prefesser Hagrits," Sonny reminded them, "And Spot!"

"**Spot**!" Orion threw his hands up, "We can't even get the bloody _dog_ to follow the rules around here!"

"I would _appreciate_ it, if you would all be _quiet_!" Madame Pomfrey warned them. "These boys are _extremely_ critical right now! Every bit of magic has been drained out of them, Ewan included, and it's only the grace of God, Merlin, Buddha, Allah, or WHOEVER keeping them going! I'm going to have to put Rigel in magical stasis if I can't get his blood sugar level up to at least 300 mg/dl, which is normal for a _Leprechaun_, thank you all for informing me in advance!" She snorted at them. "You'd better _pray_ the sun stays out, and while you're at it, get me some pure grain alcohol from Hagrid!"

"Why?" The Aurors all asked.

"_Leprechaun_?!" She reminded them, "Sugar, alcohol, sunlight, with fruit and chocolate? Remember?"

"Come, Darling," Orion said to his wife, taking her arm, "Let's go see Hagrid for the booze, then we can take you to the attack site."

"Sir?" All the children in the corridor asked.

"You might as well go on to class, kids," Orion told them, "There's been no change, and they're still unconscious. Some burned hands are the worst of it," he glossed it over. "Connor, Aaron, you two come with me. You can take something back here for Madame Pomfrey from Hagrid's. I have to go somewhere."

The boys followed him on out. Daniel and Liam got up and followed them.

"One can feel the love in this place," Niamh told them, "There is powerful magic here."

"Mrs. Malfoy, are they going to be all right?" Daniel asked.

"Are you going to call a Leprechaun doctor?" Liam wondered

"I can't believe they didn't call _us_," Aaron sighed, and Orion rounded on him.

"This _isn't_ funny, Jordan!" He snapped, "The only reason they're not all _dead _is because of their non-human sides! We _still _don't know how Ewan survived this, and Marigold isn't even sure she can _save_ his hand! If _you'd_ been there, you'd be right in there with them, maybe even dead like Rónán _was_!"

The boys froze.

"He...he _was _dead, sir?" Connor gasped. "But you said that..."

"I don't _know_ what happened, son," Orion relented a bit. "I examined him last night, baseline medical scan. He _was_ dead, now he's not, and that's _that_."

"Someone _really_ tried to kill him?" Connor mumbled. "They tried to kill Rigel, too?"

"Where did you hear _that_?" Orion demanded.

"Thin door, and Sonny yells a lot," Connor shrugged. "Even _I_ can hear him!"

"This is a nightmare," Orion fretted. "If this gets out..."

"Oh, I'd say with a wee bit'a'luck, it won't," Niamh assured him,

"Luck is what started all this," Orion snorted, as they arrived at Hagrid's. Hagrid, of course, was a mess. He was also very intoxicated, and tried to get the boys to take a stone jug on up for Rigel that was larger than they were! Mrs. Malfoy downsized it a bit, and sent them on their way.

"You were a bit hard on the Prince's friends," she reminded her husband.

"Tha's what _'e_ called 'im!" Hagrid slurred, between sobs, "Said 'yeh gots no powers over ME, yeh little prince!'" He burped. "Par'n'me!"

"Who called _who_ that, Hagrid?" Orion demanded. "Gods man, you're going to have to sober up so we can sort this out!"

Hagrid waved him off. "The _short _fella, wha' smelt o'cimmany an' sugar," Hagrid sniffled, "'e called Ri-jul a prince, too!"

The Malfoys exchanged a long look. "No one outside the Realm should know that!" Niamh gasped, taking her husband's arm to Apparate away once they had cleared the Wards.

"His friends know," Orion told her, "They've been planning to go over the family tree, trying to find out if Rigel carries the actual DNA of King Deo."

"Now what do they wanna do that fer?" Niamh gasped, as they emerged near the fight scene.

Orion shrugged. "Rigel doesn't _want_ to be King!"

Niamh sighed. "Well _someone_ has to take the bloody job, now, _don't_ they?!" She ranted, scanning the site. She raised her hands, closed her eyes, and began a ritual perambulation of the area. "No doubt, Husband, there's heavy traces of Leprechaun magic here. 'Tis no wonder yer friends couldn't find them, 'til the boyos showed up and Rigel broke the spell." She looked around. "Why isn't anyone casin' this joint fer clues?"

"That's what we're here for, Darling," Orion began his own magical probes.

"Oh! Well, sure an' it were a Leprechaun attack, all right," Niamh stated, pulling her shawl a bit tighter. "Tha weather's gonna change soon, Husband, an' I can't be stoppin' it! The boy'll be needin' one of them Muggley sunlamps!"

"Who would _want_ to do this, though, and why not just kill them outright?" Orion wondered. "They must have beaten them for _hours_!"

"Bait," Naimh Malfoy raised her head again. "They beat them, they did, no traces o'magic on 'em, yeh say? None that I saw, either, but they said that Teddy Potter put up one hell of a fight. That little Goblin boy, though, he's got residue o'tha Irish Killin' Curse o'the Wee Folk on him!"

"Ruined his favorite battleaxe," Orion put in. "It bothers me, though, Love. Hagrid said that he saw Lucas and Rhys throw their weapons at the attacker!"

"An' _bloody _well right they _should_!" Niamh protested, her face going pink, "Of all the nerve, doin' this to a wee child, wolf er not! Knowin', if he were bait, his friends would come fer him! Pity they _missed_!"

"We do _not_ train Firsties to be killers!" Orion protested.

"Well, in tha case o'this lot, maybe yeh _should_!" Niamh put her foot down, hard. In the distance, a tree fell. "Someone tried ter kill _them_, after all! Do ya really think that tha Little Prince was gonna let 'im off scott'_free_ now?!"

Orion shivered at the thought. He knew full well what an angry Leprechaun was capable of – his son included. "Someone who knew that Rigel is the Heir, knew that Rónán was a werewolf who'd be on the hunt last night, and _where_, and knew that their friends would follow them," Orion listed it. "Obviously a Leprechaun, and obviously one that doesn't want Rigel to be King, or simply doesn't want Deo to retire."

"You don't know all that, for _sure_," Harry Potter put in, appearing from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. "Hagrid's statement last night, _before_ he got roaring drunk, said that the attacker said his work was done here – _that_ being, that he thought he'd killed Rónán. Or, that he'd simply lured them all here," Harry mused. "He'd gotten them out of the Castle, and with all they'd done wrong, most probably _expelled_ for it."

"What would _that_ accomplish?" Orion asked.

"Hogwarts has never had so many part-humans before, remember?" Harry reminded him, and Orion noticed how bad he looked. It was as if he'd aged fifty years or more overnight. "They've_ all_ bonded, mostly in Hufflepuff, a House almost always on the bottom of the list. I think we have to look beyond Rigel, here, who upset the whole family just by _being_ a Hufflepuff. Isn't that a stain on the family honor, Niamh? As I recall, _you _sent Rigel a Howler over it?"

"Well, yes," she fumbled, "We don' like Hufflepuff! Never did!" Then her face turned dark. "Sure an' yer not suspectin' ME?!" She gasped, "Do ya not _know_ what happens to a Leprechaun who harms his child?"

"You lot _did_ like Hufflepuff at one time," Harry reminded her, "A thousand years ago! No," he went on, looking around, scanning with his knobbly wand, "I know your people well enough to know that they would _never_ harm their own children. But there's _more _to it than just Rigel. I think, if it weren't for the combination of magic last night, a combination that could defeat a Leprechaun, our attacker might have succeeded. I think he wanted the Hufflepuffs to come alone. He wasn't counting on Rhys and the rest of them."

"To kill all of them?!" Orion squeaked, which was rather amusing to hear, as Malfoys did not squeak.

"Sauce for the goose, 'Rion," Harry added. "You have the Heir Apparent to the Leprechaun King being a Hufflepuff half-blood. That can't be going over well in the Realm, can it, Niamh?"

Mrs. Malfoy shook her head.

"A half-blood Prince, raised as a human, with a motley crew of mates," Harry went on, "Hell, it could be anyone in the Realm, then! Thank Merlin for that Sprite and his Goblin friend. In fact, I think it was the _combination_ of their magics that saved them. A combination that _cannot_ exist, if they're all split up and expelled."

"You said yourself, Love, in Hugo's office, that even _you_ couldn't take Rigel away from his friends," Orion reminded her. "It would make sense, then – pick the friends off one by one, or all at once, and _break_ that magic!"

"Husband," Niamh spoke up again, after they'd gone over the area again, "There's very few Leprechauns who _know _of Rigel's friends."

"Yes, only every one of your foul-mouthed, bragging father's drinking buddies," Orion reminded her, "He's so proud of that boy, it's _all_ he talks about!"

Niamh's expression was suddenly gentle. "An' aren't _you_ proud of him, too?"

"I _am_."

"Then tell him, Husband. _Tell_ him," Niamh smiled at him.

Harry sighed. "This is a bloody nightmare!"

There was no change the next day. Families were notified, and they arrived that evening by emergency Floo. Professor Longbottom and Hannah took the Goves in hand, while the other Heads of Houses did the same with the other boys' parents. Once he'd dried out, thanks a timely potion from Madame Iceni, only Hagrid sat by Rhys' bed, holding his good hand and whispering to him, stroking the odd strip of thick hair that ran down the middle of his head.

"So this is where Magnus lives?" Mrs. Gove wondered, as they entered the Cellar. Students stood and greeted them, and it was clear to them that their boy meant a great deal to his housemates. She hugged Daniel for an uncomfortably long while.

"Splendid kitchen, I wonder?" Mr. Gove observed, trying to distract her.

"That's where Mag does his best work," Professor Longbottom reminded them, "He's the talk of the school, him and his Scoffers."

Mr. Gove smiled, patting his wife's hand, as they entered the boys' dormitory.

"How cozy," Mrs. Gove commented, as she sat on her son's bed. The House Elves had since cleaned up the room, and she ran a hand over the black and gold comforter. On the nightstand, she reached for a framed 5x7 picture of the boys. All of them were smiling and waving at her as she touched the glass. Daniel and another boy she didn't know were in it, too, and she finally broke down.

"It's all just mad, MAD, I say!" She cried, "Werewolves running amok in hen coops at night, magic, broomsticks, wands, boarding school!" She ranted, still, gently placing the picture back in its place, "What was he THINKING, sneaking out at night?! Where were the TEACHERS when this happened?!"

"He went after his friend, Lovey," Mr. Gove reminded her. "It's the kind of the boy he is. Besides, I used to sneak out at night. _All _boys in school do it."

"We should never have let him come here!" Mrs. Gove cried, "_Why_ did I send my baby away?"

"Mrs. Gove," Hannah reminded her, "If not for your son, and his friends, that other little boy would be _dead_ now! They saved his life."

Mrs. Gove seemed to get a grip on herself, straightening the bed and drawing herself up. "When can we see him?" She asked.

"Marigold says he's stable," Professor Longbottom replied, "You can see him any time. Just be prepared for, well..." She fudged, "Some of his other friends and their parents aren't quite human, you see!"

"Yes, he's written all about them," Mr. Gove said, "I can't _wait_ to meet them!"

Arriving in Hospital to see the other parents was a bit of a shock for the Goves, however, being Muggles. Once they'd adapted to a few sets of pointed ears, and gotten over the shock of meeting Mr. Lawrence (a full-blood Faun), they were introduced to Aries' parents.

"Good heavens, and I thought you lot were mythological!" Mr. Gove greeted Mars the Centaur.

"We _like_ it that way," the imposing figure replied in a very deep bass voice. He bowed to Mrs. Gove. "She who is my wife," he introduced his mate, "Venus!" Like her husband and son, Venus had a roan coat and chestnut hair that just covered her bosom.

"Your son is a unique human," Venus smiled at her, "We think he's been very good for our Aries."

"However, had Hagrid not held him back, _our _son would have joined the battle!" Mars assured them.

"B-battle?" Mr. Gove stammered. "There was a _battle_?"

"Hagrid tells us it were epic," Venus smiled, as they shook hands.

"A strange ritual," Mars agreed, "But not unpleasant. You have a lovely mare, sir," He bowed, as the centaurs took their leave. "Hagrid, we shall be at the paddock, awaiting the stars, if you need us!"

The Goves sat down on a vacant bed. "My, my!" Mr. Gove gasped. "You're a lovely mare, dear!"

Mrs. Gove didn't know what to say. She simply moved to sit by her son, holding his hand, and gasping at the site of his burnt face.

"He took the explosion of a magic wand at point blank range," Madame Pomfrey informed them. "I've already healed about fifty percent of the burns, there won't be any scars," she assured them, spraying some Essence of Dittany over Magnus' burns. "Have they told you about the...ahhh...other little problem? With the _fur_?" She wheedled.

"Oh, yes, Mag wrote us and told that he'd had some werewolf problems," Mr. Gove replied. "But that's all sorted out, now, isn't it?"

"_Isn't _it?" Mrs. Gove repeated, seeing the look on Madame Pomfrey's face.

"Oh, it's sorted, _all _right," she agreed, "If you'll excuse me?"

"Dear, is that a pair of wolves by that bed over there?" Mr. Gove whispered, as one got up, out of range of the small moon rock, and changed form.

The ginger man from Rónán's bed looked up and smiled at them. "Rónán Greyson II," he introduced himself, "And my wife, Angelica," the female wolf joined them, changing from as well.

"Ah, the little werewolf boy, yes," Mr. Gove shook his hand, "Why hasn't he changed back, if I may, sir?"

"It's best for him to recover in the shape he was wounded in," Mr. Greyson explained. "You have a very brave boy there, folks. Wonder he didn't go into Gryffindor House, what, with the way Hagrid said he fought?"

The Goves looked confused.

"He saved our son's life," Angelica Greyson reminded them, "I...I don't think I could bear losing him! It was so hard to have just him! If your son hadn't changed..."

"I'm sorry to intrude," Teddy Lupin spoke up, "But Madame Pomfrey has asked that we all come back later. We've prepared quarters for you, and arranged a tour of the school, if you like? Or you may retire to the Meeting Lounge before lunch, if you prefer?"

"Look at them," Hannah mused, as they filed out, "All of them, different as they are, and not a problem among them!"

"You can see where the boys get it from," Madame Pomfrey agreed, "But if Mr. Lawrence doesn't watch it with hitting on the ladies,_ he_ might have some problems!"

No one ate much of a dinner that night, and there was no dessert course. That in itself seemed to act as a message to the whole school. At the Slytherin table, Prefect Brian Bott glanced at the head of the table, where Aidan Adams was sitting across from Second Year Jennifer Malone. And although he couldn't hear their conversation, everyone saw it when Jennifer stood up and slapped Adams across the face!

"You obnoxious little...TOSSER!" She shouted at him, throwing down her napkin and storming out the side door.

At the Staff table, Madame Iceni looked intrigued. She nodded at Bott, who got up and went to sit by the stunned boy.

"The general idea is to _not _get slapped," The older boy advised him. "What did you _say_ to her?"

Adams rolled his eyes. "Oh, she was all over weepy about that mangy wolf nearly getting killed, and how all the freaks are laid up with him, half dead," Adams explained with a smirk, "It's not _my_ fault she took it wrong."

"Kid, you've just outdone yourself, I think," Bott shook his head, "House pride is one thing, family pride is one thing, but _let_ me remind you – a special needs student at this school was kidnapped, beaten, and left for dead! And it took the rest of his friends to do what the Aurors _couldn't_! If it weren't for those 'freaks', as you so eloquently call them, that boy _would_ be DEAD! Don't you see that we have a serious problem here, Adams? Don't you_ realize_ that your own Housemate, a fellow Slytherin, could have been killed, too? Merlin's _socks_, boy, what is _wrong_ with you?!"

By this time, several heads had turned in their direction.

Adams lowered his head and mumbled, "Yeah, we _do_ have a serious problem here, _Mr_. Prefect! _None_ of this would have happened, if that mad git of a Headmaster up there hadn't admitted those _freaks_ in the first place! The school's safer _without_ them!"

Bott's face darkened. He put a hand firmly on Adams' shoulder. "One hundred years ago, boy, ONE dark wizard did _irreparable_ damage to this House's reputation! He tortured – just like poor little Rónán Greyson was tortured – Muggles and Muggleborns, killed them, even, just because of what they were! A child has no control over to whom he is born, Adams! _Do_ you understand that? And here you sit, proud of your House, proud of your name and heritage, laughing at the suffering of an innocent child? A spoiled, Pureblood brat like you? You have NO right! Malone was correct, you _deserved_ to get slapped! You _deserved_ it when Malfoy and Gove bunched you, and you _deserved_ it when Aries kicked you! Well, let me _remind_ you, Mister, you are on Final Warning, and if I have anything to say about it, your next words to me will determine if you remain at Hogwarts, or if you have to book a flight to the States!"

"My father went to _Durmstrang_!" Adams retorted.

"Where about one-_tenth _of the students are _Werebears_ now!" Bott informed him, and Adams paled. "That German boy, _Bear_, is it? _He_ transferred _from_ there, remember?" He grinned. "How'd you like to wake up some cold morning with a life-sized teddy bear to snuggle up with? I even hear they have a few Vampires?"

Adams glared at him. "At least Durmstrang would teach me how to protect myself, unlike Professor-Pansy-arse-Potter!"

"Protect you from _what_?" Bott laughed, but it was not in humor, "OH! I know! How about from lunatics what want to torture and kill little _eleven-year-old_ kiddies?"

"Pity he failed," Adams snorted, and those within earshot stiffened and went quiet.

"Fine then," Bott grinned at him, taking him by the arm and forcing him up, "We're going to march right over to the Hufflepuff table, there," He pointed to Mr. and Mrs. Greyson, who were seated at the head of their table with Professor Sprout and the other visiting parents, "And you're going to repeat to them what you just said about their _only_ son!"

Adams' eyes went wide.

"And while you're at it, I want you to keep in mind what they went through in having him, and raising him. Did you know that a substantial number of natural werewolf pups still die in infancy?" Bott informed him. "I happen to know that Rónán's lost at least one baby sister. Go on!" He gave him a shove, "Go on, tell them! Stand there and tell them how you wish that their only son, who's been nothing but outgoing and pleasant to you, would just hurry it up and die, so that _you'll_ feel safer here at Hogwarts? GO ON!"

Adams' retort, as he turned towards the door, was, in word, foul.

"Twenty-five points from Slytherin!" Bott called after him, and the emeralds in the hourglass moved Slytherin to last place.

By then, nearly everyone was watching the exchange. Bott nodded to his counterpart, and she followed Adams from the room. He then approached the Staff table.

"Headmaster, Madame Iceni," Bott said in low voice, "I would appreciate an audience with you, the other Heads of Houses, and the Head Boy and Girl at your convenience."

"Oh?" Hugo looked over the rim of his glasses at him, "What about?" He asked in feigned innocence.

Bott looked at Madame Iceni, then back at the Headmaster. "I should like to recommend that Adian Adams, Slytherin House, be expelled, sir!" Bott went a bit pink in the face. "He said some very cruel things, Miss," he inclined his head, "Things I'd _rather_ not repeat to a lady."

"I see," Madame Iceni sighed.

Hugo conjured up a pass for Bott. "My office, at lights-out," He shook his head sadly. "How's the other boy taking it?" He added.

"Not well, sir," Bott admitted, "He hasn't moved from the floor outside of Hospital."

"Might as well admit him, for _something_," Madame Pomfrey shrugged, "I've got to get back up there before that daft old Elf runs amok!"

"Sir," Bott excused himself.

"All right there, old man?" Greene Major asked him, as they gathered up notes from where they'd been working before dinner.

Bott shook his head. "I just asked that Adams be expelled."

Greene whistled in surprise.

They watched for a moment as the others filed out. At the table where the parents sat, Green Minor was chatting with the Alcotts.

"I didn't know he knew that Selkie-boy all that well," Green Major wondered. "Sometimes I think Jeremy's off in his own little world. A world I know nothing about."

"Why don't you walk him up tonight?" Bott suggested, noticing how some of the sibling students had paired up to leave. At the Staff table, Helene Malfoy was talking with her father.

"I think I will," Greene nodded. On the way out, he paused. "Jeremy, how do feel about living with that Goblin boy, _really_?"

"It's the _coolest _thing, ever!" Greene Minor replied, "Why?"

"I'm glad to hear it," the older boy replied, noting the look that came over his little brother's face. "Walk you up?" He offered his hand, and saw the smaller boy's face tightening. Then Jeremy was on him, burying his face in his older brother's shoulder. Greene Major realized that he hadn't held his little brother like that in years, not since he was like four or five, sobbing and then waving goodbye to him at the platform seven years before.

"J-Jeff?" The small boy finally managed, "W-what if th-they come b-back?"

"Who, Jeremy?"

"The m-men who h-hurt Rhys and G-Garrett?" Green Minor managed, tears splattering his glasses.

"They won't, because you and your friend are coming with me and Bott. You've never seen where I've lived for the last six and more years, have you, Jeremy?"

The small boy shook his head. "I...I was afraid you'd be ashamed of me," Jeremy blurted, "I _wanted_ to be Slytherin, like you!"

"You're much too clever for that," he patted the boy's back, "And I'm very proud of you, baby brother!"

They met up with Brian Bott after retrieving a stunned Alistair Wilson from Ravenclaw Tower. "What is it, mate?" Greene Major asked, noting the drawn look on his Prefect's face.

"Madame P's admitted Poynter to Hospital," Bott replied, "Nervous collapse. We have guests, I see?"

"I didn't think you'd mind," Green Major nodded. "Jeremy's never seen our place, did you know?"

Bott offered his hand to Wilson, who looked like he was bracing himself to be Transfigured into something unnatural. "Why don't you put them up in our dormitory, mate? I doubt if I make it to bed tonight, with all the paperwork I've got to do, after I see the Headmaster." He clapped Wilson on the shoulder, "You know, brush their teeth, change their nappies, get them tucked in?"

Wilson finally smiled at him.

"What about Adams, mate?" Greene Major asked.

"I've moved his bed into ol'Smith's cupboard down the corridor!" Bott smiled.

"Excellent!" Both little boys crowed.

Up in Gryffindor Tower, Aaron Jordan finished up his homework alone. With both Laddie and Erik in Hospital, that left only him. As he looked around the empty room, he remembered his father's and grandfather's stories about how after the War, everyone had wanted to be in Gryffindor. For a few years, the Firsties' dorms had had to be magically expanded and merged with the cupboards.

"And here I am," Aaron sighed, "Idiot! There's nothing you could have done, if you'd been there," he told himself.

"You're right...-" - "-...you know," the Twins said from the doorway. ""You left it open!""

"WHY do you guys do _that_?" Aaron snorted.

The Twins looked at one another, smiling. ""It's our idiosyncrasy!"" they laughed.

Aaron looked down at his books. "I...I was kinda freaked out, about Lad, you know," he admitted, "At first."

"Well, it's not every lion...-"  
"...who gets to share their room...-"  
"...with a bear...-"  
"..._and_ a goat," the Twins reminded him, ""Oh my!""

"Wonder the Deutscher hasn't eaten him yet, Giddy?" Fabian asked.  
"I'd think ol'_Lad_ would be the nervous one, Fabe," Gideon nodded.

"Does anyone else talk, I mean, about him?" Aaron asked.

"Well, the horns take some getting used to," Fabian admitted.

"Does he really have a tail?" Gideon asked, and Aaron nodded.

"Fluffy little goat tail – it twitches a lot," Aaron replied. "I thought he was just mad, when we caught him shaving his legs," He had to laugh, but it didn't last.

The room was quiet.

"Why don't you stay with the big boys tonight?" Fabian asked.  
"We don't often get the chance to entertain!" Gideon agreed.  
""And we've got new products!"" They promised.

Aaron smiled. He packed up a bag, closed the door, and left the dormitory empty.

The First Year boys' dorm in Hufflepuff was empty.

The Common Room was crowded, however, and abuzz with discussion. Rumors were running rampant, and some of the theories were downright outrageous.

"It must have been a Tri-Horned Glornack, they're related to Snorkacks, you know," A Fourth Year boy with straight white hair said, "They're a natural enemy of werewolves!"

"Jove Scamander," Humphreys snorted at him, "How many times must we tell you, there's NO SUCH THING?!"

"Werebears are the only natural enemy of werewolves," Melody pointed out. "Ewan told me, at the ball, you know. I guess he'd know," She sniffled.

"They all looked pretty down when they left," Jove reminded everyone.

There was a collective "Yeah" throughout the room.

"Mates, you can't listen to these rumors," The Portrait of Cedric Diggory reminded them. "When I was killed, the rumor mongers were saying that Harry Potter had killed me to win the Tri-Wizard Tournament! Right now, until Professor Longbottom gives us the story, we can't believe anything!" He glared at Jove. "Especially _that_ story!"

"Well, I'm going to make some nice Gurdyroot tea and then go to bed," Jove shrugged, seeming nonplussed. "Anyone want some?"

They all began throwing pillows at him.

"So what do _you_ think?" Henry Griffiths asked the similar looking, but older, man who was seated across from him in his office.

"I think that Mrs. Malfoy _isn't_ telling us something," Old Harry replied.

"You think she knows who did this?" Henry gasped.

"Do you think _she_ did it?" Harry replied.

"No! You know what happens to Leprechauns who hurt their own children! Hagrid said that _man_ was trying to hurt, if not kill Rigel!"

"I have to give them one thing," Old Harry smiled, "Justice is served swiftly in the Realm. And it's_ permanent_!"

"It's _barbaric_," Henry sniffed.

"How _else_ do you control a bad seed with that kind of power?" Harry retorted. "_Now_ do you see why I was so upset with Rigel being here?"

"Rigel's a good kid, Harry," Henry sighed, "He's a good kid, and I hurt him."

"You did what you _had _to do, boy! Your job!" Harry snapped, "His hurt little feelings are irrelevant!"

"What about his hurt little _body_, then?!"

"What about _Gove's_?" Harry went on, "What about Niamh Malfoy marking him like she did? _Kissing _him? And Rigel taking him into the Realm, where he was attacked? And what about those _rings_? Leprechaun gold and emerald rings? _Here_, in our world? Any thief worth his weight in sawdust would cut the boys' fingers off to get them!" He paused. "And _you've_ seen what kind of power those boys pack now!"

"Yeah, well, right now, they're not packing too much!" Henry snapped back. "They're still unconscious, and Ewan might lose his hand! Dammit, old man! Don't you care about anyone?"

"Maybe I care too _much_," Harry muttered. "But back to the topic?"

"I thought the boys _were _the topic?" Henry grumbled.

"You've got a crop of part-humans this term," Harry began, "More than Hogwarts has ever had before. One of them, a Muggleborn, was attacked over the summer by a rogue werewolf, from a known disgruntled werewolf family. Then the boy comes to school and meets a Leprechaun, probably the first known one in a thousand years. They become fast friends, with another werewolf, who left their community to come here – probably making some enemies for his family in the process. If you'll recall, Teddy Potter left here in his Third or Fourth Year?"

"Prejudices die hard," Henry admitted. "You think the werewolves did it?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "_They_ have stricter laws on harming the pups than Leprechauns do. The community would tear the offender to shreds for it. A child-werewolf is a precious thing to them. That's why the attacks are usually on children, still."

"But you think Mrs. Malfoy knows?" Henry repeated.

"She said that Rónán was bait, remember?" Harry reminded him, "And it makes perfect sense. Leprechauns don't like their children hanging out with non-Leprechaun children, which confuses the hell out of me – WHY did she chose Gove to be the Ambasadóir to her son? He was already a hybrid werewolf."

"Well, her little prince, I take it, isn't too well liked back home, either," Henry reminded him, "Being a half-blood Hufflepuff and all."

"Given the history of King Deoradhán, you'd think they'd want him out," Harry mused, raising his eyebrows.

"Or dead," Henry shivered.

"Then who'd take the job as King?" Harry wondered, "If no one else wants it?"

"Rigel doesn't want it, and he's got his family album to try and see if he can get out of it," Henry said.

"How?" Harry asked, "He's in the Bloodline? Death is the only way out?"

"No, if they can scan his DNA and prove that he's _not_ got King Deoradhán's DNA, he can't be king."

They both froze.

"I think we just isolated our suspect," Harry grinned wickedly.

Henry snapped his fingers. "A Leprechaun who _is_ in the line, but doesn't have the _right_ DNA?"

"Good luck proving that one," Harry snorted.

"_Please_ don't say that word," Henry sighed. "And why'd you have me follow them, if you we weren't going to help?"

"Do you _really_ think _you _could have blocked that Killing Curse, like Rhys Geary did?" Harry countered. "Only a magical Goblin weapon could have done that!"

"Odd, how we had a Goblinoid student after what, two hundred years? Lucky, isn't it?" Henry wondered.

"Perhaps Rhys _was_ planted, after all," Harry agreed, "But _not_ for the reasons we initially thought. Even though he was abandoned, it would be a huge blow to Goblin honor, and they'd be out for blood! Hell, it would be a blow to _all_ the species honors, with the Wizarding World to blame!"

"She said she couldn't take Rigel, even if she wanted to," Henry tapped his fingers on the desk. "Niamh said she _could not __**take**_ him, because of his friends!"

"There's something else, though," Harry mused, "The attacker said his work was done here, when he hurt Rónán. Why not just kill them, then?"

"I think it had something to do with luring the rest of them out, possibly on the outside chance that he knew that Gove had been infected," Harry surmised, "Or perhaps as we thought, get them all expelled, to break the magic that protects Rigel here."

"That's the part I don't get," Henry shook his head. "Don't they realize that the Greyson Clan isn't going to take this lightly?"

Harry's face paled. "_Yes_, our perpetrator DOES know that!" He slammed his fist on the table. "This is all starting to make perfect sense! Whoever did this knew that the werewolves would retaliate! If they find out it's the Leprechauns, and they will, once Orion makes his report, it could very well start a war between them. Now, add in that they were Hogwarts students, and you've got angry Sprites, angry Werebears – who are just itching for a chance to get at the werewolves – angry Goblins, Fauns, Selkies, and the list goes on! And all because 'the human school' couldn't protect their children!"

"A Selkie isn't much of a threat to a Leprechaun, is he?" Henry asked.

"They_ all_ have their own unique derivatives of magics," Harry reminded him. "A Leprechaun isn't like Superman. Even _they_ have their weaknesses. They can't just snap their fingers and _win_. None of them can. For instance, Teddy Lupin can take his wand with him when he changes form, and he's not the only one. They're all formidable adversaries in a fight. And they'll all likely be coming after _**us**_!"

"Harry, any word on _your_ Teddy?" Henry asked.

"You mean 'our' Teddy? Yes, my sources tell me he'll be fine, but he'll need a new wand," Harry replied. "Thanks for asking."

"He's been like _my _grandson for years, you know," Henry reminded him.

"Oh, stop sniveling. Buy Rigel a pony or something, and he'll get over it," Harry snorted.

"The _Centaurs_!" Henry snapped his fingers. "Aries was in the middle of it, too!"

"I forgot about _them_!" Harry agreed, "Damn! The last thing we want is the herd riled up again! We almost went to war with them over Umbridge back in my day. _One_ good thing that Voldemort did, was make them mad at _him_!"

They were both silent for a moment.

"Harry, if we don't solve this, it could start a war," Henry fretted, "Soon!"

"A _big_ war," Harry nodded. "Everyone against everyone, for one reason or another!"

"They've played us all around, haven't they?" Henry said.

"They're tricky," Harry admitted, "A Leprechaun coup, and in the process, turn all the other uneasy relationships in on one another!" He slung a pack up onto the desk. "You'd best keep the big guns here," Harry suggested. "I'm too damn old to save the world again!"

"I think we might need someone _younger _this time," Henry mused, "_Much_ younger!"

"I was a _baby_, the first time I did it," Harry snorted.

"Yeah, but you staved it off again as a Firstie, and these boys have more help than you did," Henry commented.

"True," Harry had to admit. "If nothing else, Gove can get them to _eat_ themselves to death!" Harry noticed the look on Henry's face – his own face, as Henry picked up the Elder Wand. "Was there something?"

"Yes," Henry said, looking him in the eye, "You hit Magnus."

"He was losing control," Harry replied.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" Henry warned him.

**Notes**:

easy to copy words:

Rónán

Alistair Wilson – RC1 + Jeremy? + Rhys and Garrett

Taryn – Humphreys' brother, Welsh, RC6, organist

Eachan – Celtic word, "little horse"

Deartháir – Gaelic for 'brother'

King Deoradhán

MacMillan should be 'Macmillan', but who cares?

Ambasadóir – Gaelic for 'ambassador'

Mamaí – Gaelic for 'mom'

Khaavolaar – Goblin profanity

"Honorary Hufflepuff – Hard Work/Best Friends"

Greene Minor – RC1 (Jeremy)

Green Major – S7 (Jeffrey)

Siblings at the same boarding schools are generally referred to as "major" and "minor" in favor of their names.

black kyloe coos – Scottish highland cattle


	21. Chapter 21-Laying Low

**21 – Laying Low**

Security at Hogwarts was increased after the attack, and much to the Twins' chagrin, their father, Artie Weasley, stayed on with his old partners. Harry and Orion seemed pleased, but the Aurors were all constantly alert as well. They turned their classes over to TA's, banned Hogsmeade visits, and thoroughly inspected every shipment coming in by owl. Liam Creevey's owl, Hooter, went on strike. Harry even went so far as to inform Sonny and the House Elves that they were 'free to do what they deemed fit to protect the children' – which was quite dangerous, really, given that the statement was wide open to Sonny's interpretation.

The boys' parents also stayed on, as Orion had expressed concern for their safety as well.

"Absolutely mad, this world of yours," Mr. Gove commented, as the Aurors gathered all the parents to discuss their options that evening. All of the others laughed, and it was genuine laughter. Even the Scotts had to smile a bit.

"Your boy's the Muggleborn, what cooks, isn't he? Or is that the Scott boy?" Mr. Lawrence asked. "Bit of a shock for Laddie, too, when those others flushed him out?"

Mrs. Scott clarified it for him, and even shocked everyone by saying that she didn't care that Ewan was the first non-Slytherin in the history of their family.

"You did a good job hiding Laddie," Mrs. Alcott commented to the Lawrences, "Although it seems the others have accepted him right off now?"

"Unlike his paternal ancestors," Mrs. Lawrence gave her husband a glare, "Our boy is _very_ well behaved."

"Gelded?" Mars wondered.

"Not _yet,_" Mrs. Lawrence grinned. Mr. Lawrence shuddered.

"There've been no conflicts amongst the, ahhh, Scoffers," Orion noted, "Which I have to admit, surprised me. I was sure we'd have trouble between our resident wolf and bear."

"Erik ist not much von a bear," Mrs. Bär noted. "I am just glad zu be away von those awful winters!"

"Where's his father?" Artie asked.

"Werebears usually split up wenn der cub ist old enough zu fend for himself," She shrugged. "We don't mate often, und monogamy ist hardly ein issue. I am _nicht _sure who his Vater ist, really."

"I _say_!" Mr. Lawrence beamed at her. His wife slapped him.

"You _do_ realize," Artie Weasley put in, "That you lot could all be in a great deal of trouble for trying to hide your sons' heritages, much less the danger you put them in if some medical emergency had come up?"

Harry kicked Orion's shin under the table. "_Some _of us should talk," he sniffed.

"We just wanted them to have it easier here than they did at home," Mrs. Lawrence put in, "The other Fauns teased Laddie to no end about his feet, his stubby little tail, his stunted horns, and his tiny little p-..."

"I can image," Mrs. Alcott cut her off, "Poor Garrett had a rough time of it, too, wanting to spend all his time on dry land with the other human boys."

"We didn't even tell Rónán about the outside world until he was six or seven," Mr. Greyson put in. He glanced at the Goves. "It was just too much of a risk."

"It's not your fault, dear," Mrs. Gove patted Mrs. Greyson's hand. "Mag's first letter home was full of worry about how sad your boy was."

"You're taking this awfully well?" She wondered, looking all misty, "Considering _your_ son?"

"As I understand it, Madame," Mr. Gove spoke up, "If it weren't for Mag's ability to change into a wolf now, your boy might be...?"

"I see they told you," Harry glared around the table.

"Sorry," Hagrid mumbled.

"Well if Magnus fancies running about on four feet and having a tail, who are _we_ to stop him?" Mr. Gove laughed.

"Are they _all there_?" Artie whispered to Orion, tapping his own forehead and jerking his head in the Goves' direction.

"No," Orion sighed without hesitation.

"It's so refreshing to hear that kind of attitude," Mr. Fournier put in, "We did the same with Sebastian, you know, hiding him. And since there weren't any other boy-Veelas around, he was sort of lonely."

"What about that _Goblin_ boy, Professor?" Mars asked, "Where are _his_ parents?"

"Dead, sir," Orion answered, "Ruled accidental, but with as rare as Goblinoid children are, we had to suspect him at first, and we're going to reopen the Geary case files."

"He's got no one to care for him?" Mrs. Gove gasped.

"He's _got _someone, all right," Hagrid declared firmly.

"Hagrid, why don't we go over it again?" Harry asked.

The half-giant looked away. "Rigel spotted some kinda Cloaking Spell, an' he broke it. Said it were L-Le...ahhh?" Hagrid paused.

"_Leprechaun_ magic," Mrs. Malfoy offered, glancing about the room. About half of the parents were surprised. "Friends," she said more softly, "It's very important for Rigel, and Hogwarts, that _this _secret _not_ get out. We've already use very special Spells here, but since you've been told by me, you'll know – while no one else here would ever believe it."

"I can _imagine_!" Mr. Bole gasped, "Shouldn't the Board have _expelled_ him by now?"

"They will _not_, as they do not know, and are not going to find out," Headmaster Hugo Weasley announced, as he came in, "Sorry to be late. I was on the Floo with Mr. and Mrs. Adams. They are not pleased."

"Isn't that Lucas' housemate?" Mrs. Bole wondered.

Hugo nodded. "And a spoiled rotten little tosser he is! Can't say I'll miss _that_ one."

"**Hugo**!" Hannah snapped at him, "What a dreadful thing to say! He's just a_ child_!"

"A child with a very dangerous attitude," Orion reminded them, "A century ago, it were families like his that triggered the war. I've read Madame Iceni's reports, as Head of Slytherin House, as well as his progress reports from his classes. He's disruptive, and he's been nothing but condescending and downright mean to...your children," he informed the group. "Keeping him here is a liability, we've decided."

Hugo nodded. "But back to the topic?" He suggested.

"Leprechaun magic," Hagrid resumed. "Rigel busted through it, and tha's when the stranger attacked. Seemed he'd already had a go at Teddy Potter and Rónán. Rigel took him on, give as good as he _got_, too! Then Lucas an' Rhys dived in ter the fray!"

"What about the others?" Mrs. Bole asked.

"Ain't none o'them no match fer Leprechaun magic," Hagrid reminded her.

"But an Elvin blade and a Goblin ax?" Mr. Bole reminded her as well.

"Firsties 'er _not_, one Leprechaun ain't up ter standin' up to a mad an' armed Goblin an' a Sprite _together_!" Mrs. Malfoy nodded, "Not wieldin' blades!"

"Another reason we've kept a close eye on _them_," Harry put in, "Some of these boys have some pretty special abilities, I'll grant that. But it seems that the natural tendencies to be enemies are absent in these boys?"

"Magnus did write us about how upset he was about the treatment of the not-quite-human students here – himself included," Mr. Gove pointed out.

"I'm sure that by now, you'll understand why we had to keep such a close watch on them," Harry repeated.

"Does this all have something to do with Rigel Malfoy's Leprechaun heritage?" Mr. Scott asked. They all looked at him. "Old family, remember? The Scotts have had a dealing or two with the Wee Folk in ages past. I'm rather disturbed at the insinuations here that the Leprechauns might be coming after all of us!"

"We believe the attack were directed Rigel," Orion explained, "To break up his group of friends and the special magic between them. Rónán was the first, easiest target."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Fournier asked. "And how did they get out, anyway? _Where_ were the adults?"

"It's not like I could'a stopped 'em, Madame," Hagrid explained, "Hogwarts ain't no prison, and by the time I could'a alerted the staff, they'd'a been gone! What were I s'posed ter do, shoot Sebastian down? Hell, we jus' got him all patched up again!"

"Your boys deserve medals, not _this_," Mrs. Scott cut in, glancing at the Boles and Fourniers. "They saved Ewan's life."

"One wonders that you're not more upset?" Hugo had to ask of them.

"Accidents happen," Mr. Scott waved it off, "And as for the mixed-blood thing? Who cares? Hell, Ewan's last letter asked if there was any way he could infect himself with something!"

"He DID NOT?!" Mr. Greyson gasped. "I can assure you that my son..."

"Would neither bite anyone, nor share the emergency potion, unless it were a matter of life and death," Hugo interrupted him. "But as the Professor was saying, Rónán was out and about, due to his condition, thus making him the perfect candidate to be attacked."

"But I don't think the first," Harry cut in. They all looked at him. "I've had Ewan's runaway broomstick analysed. Someone used some powerful dark magic on it to send it out of control. Powerful enough to slip by the wards."

"Or placed here, _inside _them," Artie mused. "I think we've become too complacent in the last century, mates," he added.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Mrs. Gove said, "Are you saying that someone is trying to murder the Hufflepuff boys, because they're not all human?"

"In part," Orion nodded, looking to his wife, who by now, had dropped all her Glamour Charms and was looking rather Leprechaun-like.

"When the Goblin boy broke tha spell what were concealin' me boyo," she said, her accent thickening, "Word were out that Rigel were half-Leprechaun. We had ter cover it up, but it got out in the Realm too, I think. Now, Rigel weren't too popular there, back home, either. He's a Hufflepuff, a half-blood, raised as a human, and he's also the next in line to be the Leprechaun King. _Someone_ don't like that!"

They all just stared at her, but each of them understood what she must be going through – having to hide her son's heritage.

"If the boy would be King," Mars then wondered aloud, "Why has your Court not come to take him, then, Madame?"

"They _can't_," Mrs. Malfoy shrugged, "Hence the attacks."

"Isn't he a bit young?" Mrs. Scott wondered.

"In human terms, yes. In Leprechaun terms, no. Keep in mind, the current King, Deo, is nigh a t'ousand, in tha Realm!" She reminded them.

"What could possibly _stop _the Leprechaun Court, then?" Mrs. Bole wondered. "The last time the Goblins tangled with your people, it wasn't pretty? Why don't they just come and get him – that's what I don't understand?"

"Tha's what someone just now tried ter do. Rhys' ax and Lucas' sword turned that Curse," Hagrid reminded them, "An' that fella weren't playin', neither! He were aimin' ter _kill_!"

"When Rigel was exposed," Orion proceeded, with a nod from his wife, "It was pretty much decided by both sides that he'd have to leave Hogwarts. Policy dictates that Leprechauns are not allowed, since the fiasco with King Deo when he was a boy here. In fact, we've not had a Centaur since, either, when all the non-and-part-humans left."

"You do us honour," Mars nodded.

"As do _you_, sir," Orion agreed, "But, Rigel didn't _want_ to leave. He wanted to stay here, with his friends. And his _friends_ wanted him to stay. That was when the _**Dumbledore Theory **_kicked in, for lack of a better term. And that's why they can't take him."

"What's that?" Mrs. Fournier wondered.

"Simply put," Harry explained, "Albus Dumbledore believed that there is a magic in children, not like the usual run of the mill magic that we teach for daily use. He also believed that there is a special magic in love, and when combined with that of a child, it is a force that _cannot _be overcome. Lord Voldemort found this out the hard way – first when he tried to kill me as a baby," Harry (Henry) shuddered inwardly, "And next, when Orion's grandfather, Draco Malfoy, was similarly protected by his own mother's offer of sacrifice when she lied to Voldemort. Compounding that was that she did it for _my_ sake as well as that of her own son."

"Basically, it put up a shield of sorts," Orion continued, "The Leprechauns can't take Rigel by _force_, and he won't go willingly. The logical conclusion is to break that shield, and that means doing in his friends, one by one, until the power weakens. It would follow, logically, that with his friends gone, Rigel would be either so depressed, or so angry at the human world, he'd willingly leave."

"I would imagine," Mrs. Scott put in, "That even if they succeeded in getting to all of the boys, if Rigel survived, that his love would survive _with_ him?" She paused. "And if I recall my lore correctly, an angry Leprechaun, especially one who isn't in full control of his faculties, _isn't _something you want?"

"More likely, Rigel would be out for vengeance on the Leprechauns who did it," Artie mused.

"Not a chance we want to take, in either direction," Hugo shook his head. "For now, the boys are happy here, and it's clear that the _**Dumbledore Theory**_ is in full effect. However, we are faced with the conundrum of what to do when the boys have to leave the school?"

No one had an answer for that one.

"Well, I'd say you'd have to find the culprit, wouldn't you?" Mr. Gove put in.

"Or, exclude Rigel from the royal line of succession," Artie offered.

"Which is what the boys had planned when they sent that Elf to get his records," Orion snapped his fingers, "Connected?"

"Maybe," Harry nodded.

"Sonny would never help to harm Rónán," Mrs. Greyson said harshly.

Hugo and the others exchanged looks. Hugo nodded, but said nothing.

"To be the Leprechaun King," Mars offered, "As we understand it, the Prince must be proven potent, and capable of siring offspring, correct?"

"Rigel is a bit young fer that," Orion blushed a bit.

"_Don't_ say it," Venus grabbed her husband's beard and yanked on it.

"We have a good idea who the culprit is, at least, one of them," Orion said, hoping to change the subject.

"There could be others, but we have to get a hold of _this_ one first," Harry went on, "And that's not going to be easy."

Just then, they all felt a slight tremor. A bit of dust fell from the ceiling. A Patronus then appeared in the doorway – a wolf.

"Rigel's awake, and he's _pissed_!" The wolf said in Teddy Lupin's voice. "We could use a few more wands, and his _mother_ up here!"

Mrs. Malfoy vanished in a swirl of pale green light.

"That's another reason Hogwarts doesn't like Leprechauns, they can Apparate around, once _inside_ the wards!" Hugo informed them, as the teachers and Aurors headed for the Hospital Wing, leaving the confused parents with Hannah.

"Do you think this means our boys will be recovering soon?" Mrs. Gove asked.

"I think so, dear," Hannah smiled at her, _I hope,_ she thought.

"Petrify him, before he hurts himself!" Madame Pomfrey was shouting at Teddy Lupin, who was, in fact, trying his best to do just that.

Rigel Malfoy was standing on his bed, wrapped in a sheet, and spouting profanities that had made the male portraits laugh, and the lady portraits flee! His face was flushed, he was sweating and shaking, and his eyes were wide.

They were pale blue, however, and his ears were round. He looked very much like the small and sickly boy that Magnus had met on the platform, and not like a Leprechaun at all.

Still, he was tossing out bursts of random magic, sputtering pale green little bursts that were enough to keep Madame Pomfrey and Teddy at bay.

"RIGEL OSSIAN MALFOY!" Mrs. Malfoy snapped at him, upon appearing at his bedside.

Rigel paused, looked at her, and then laughed. Then his eyes went wide again, and he seemed terrified. Then he froze, blinked, and fell back over in bed. "Bring me a beer, woman!" He giggled, as he seemed to fall back to sleep.

"W-what was_ that_?!" Teddy sputtered, as Madame Pomfrey began scanning him with her wand.

"There's an odd reading in his brain chemistry," said observed, "High levels of what seems to be ergotamine with traces of lysergic acid! Vasoconstriction is setting in," she noted his hands and feet going blue, as the boy began to tremble with a seizure. "It looks like ergot poisoning!"

"Ergot _fungal _poisoning?" Mrs. Malfoy gasped, "That'll _kill_ him!"

"What's that?" Teddy asked.

"Not if I can help it," Madame Pomfrey snapped, flicking her wand at the cart. As she immobilized the boy, a thin latex feeding tube snaked its way up his nose. She checked it, then began pumping a Mandrake Draught through it. "Teddy, get that alcohol from Hagrid! I'll want to test it! Ergot is a fungus that grows on cereal grains, and can cause symptoms like this, even death!"

"Isn't it rare, then?" Teddy wondered, "Bezoar?"

"Couldn't hurt," the Mediwitch summoned one, reduced it, then shot it through the feeding tube.

"Yes, especially rare in _winter_," Madame Pomfrey snorted. "Rigel said he hadn't been feeling right since the last cake party, either."

"You believe he was poisoned?" Hugo asked, as the others arrived, and Orion rushed to his son's side.

"He _had _to have been," Harry said, studying Hagrid's brew with Teddy. They scanned it, mixed a bit with some various solutions, did a potions charm to separate the ingredients, and declared it safe. They had both had a nip. "This stuff's all clear!"

"Good stuff, too," Teddy commented.

"The groceries that Magnus accidentally summoned?" Orion asked weakly, taking his son's hand. The seizure had stopped, and Madame Pomfrey started him on a very sugary solution too. She set up his sunlamp again, and put his privacy screen back up.

"The groceries had to come from somewhere," Harry nodded.

"Probably somewhere in tha Realm, if'n tha boy summoned 'em!" Mrs. Malfoy said darkly, turning to Madame Pomfrey. "Ergot's nothin' fer tha Wee Folk ter mess around with, don't'cha know?!"

"Let's check the other boys," Madame Pomfrey agreed, "Of course it won't hurt Rhys, but anyone who ate any of that cake should be checked! In fact, you'd all have to be symptomatic by now?" She wondered, whipping her wand around in scans. "And you're not." She snapped her fingers. "But that one cake made _Lucas Bole _sick, and Sprites are normally as resilient as Goblins when it comes to food toxins!"

"Rotten _luck_, isn't it, that _Rigel_ got the cake with a high concentration of ergot in it?" Mrs. Malfoy wondered.

"Traces in the Lawrence boy's system," the Mediwitch observed, "But it looks like his other stomach has killed it!"

"What about Aries?" Orion asked, "We don't want Mars angry at us!"

"No chance of danger," Madame Pomfrey shook her head, "Not with as complex a digestive tract as _he's_ got!"

"Treat them all, just to be safe," Hugo decided, staring at Rigel, who was now sleeping again. "He looks positively human!" He gasped.

"Yes, he's run his magic almost completely out," Orion muttered, "Seen it before. He'll be back to normal in a few days, I'll wager, _if_ I know the MacPherson constitution?" He smiled. "In the meantime, let's get him pumped full of his 'bad habits' to regenerate him."

"If he lights a pipe in here, he's _done_!" Madame Pomfrey warned them.

"Can't keep a good Leprechaun down!" Mrs. Malfoy laughed, but then she turned serious again. "Husband, I'll be off ter tha Realm now. I've got some old drunken sots ter chase down and flog a bit fer answers!"

And with that, she vanished.

"You didn't tell her yet?" Artie asked his cousin.

"No," Orion shook his head, "Would _you_?"

"**Hell **no!" Harry smirked, "_You_ married her, remember?"

By the next morning, the rest of the boys were awake again. When they were finally coherent, and over the shock of meeting each others' parents, they all told the same story: a man in black had tried to kill Rónán and Teddy Potter – a man that was apparently using Leprechaun magic and knew that Rigel was the Prince.

"Would you know him if you smelled him again?" Harry asked.

"No, all Leprechauns smell tha same," Teddy informed them. "No offense. I think it's a defense mechanism against werewolves, actually."

"None taken," Rigel groaned, "Not that I fit tha bill right now." He looked over at Magnus. "You look all right in fur, you know!"

Magnus blushed a bit, looking nervously at his parents.

"Absolutely smashing!" His father congratulated him, and that made it all right again.

Of all the boys, Rónán was the most badly off, though. He didn't even remember the forced changes he'd endured, nor being magically shocked back to life during the first. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness, and despite being dosed on pain medications, he still whimpered.

"Technically, you can't consider a natural werewolf dead until the morning sun hits him, and he doesn't move," Teddy pointed out. Madame Pomfrey smacked the back of his head and threw him out.

"You're not helping!" She called after him.

"Y-you guys c-came for me?" Rónán asked in a very small voice, looking around at all his friends.

They all nodded. "You are Deartháir," Rigel told him.

"We needed a canine nose attached to some human intelligence," Magnus shrugged, "I was the best choice, after all," he held up his scarred arm, which wasn't so scarred anymore.

Rónán completely lost it.

From the portrait of a waiting room hung on the far wall, Albus Dumbledore glanced at his friends and smiled.

"Oh, I may vomit," Snape grumbled.

It was also clear that the other students weren't taking it well at all. Even the First Year girls, some of who were still a bit leery of the part-human boys, were showing signs of acute anxiety. Aaron Jordan and Fiona Finnigan refused to leave Gryffindor Tower, and Wilson and Greene Minor of Ravenclaw were found hiding under a sink the kitchen. Connor Poynter's nervous collapse had gotten everyone's attention, too, and he was just as badly off as the others.

But it wasn't limited to the Firsties. Even older students were showing signs of stress, and Madame Iceni was stunned when an alarm went off on her private potions stash.

"Someone's stolen a bit of Amanita Muscaria mushroom," She informed the Aurors, "Which means that we have a student either wanting to get high, or to finish off a batch of Veritaserum. Given it was one small cap, I'd vote the latter."

"Anyone good enough to brew it?" Artie Weasley asked.

"Several," Madame Iceni nodded, "If Rigel Malfoy were mobile, I might suggest that he _ate _it, being a Leprechaun."

"I do love a good porcino, sauteed in butter," Artie mused.

"Porcini would poison Rigel," Madame Iceni explained, "His physiology is different, recall. Never eat mushroom pizza with a Leprechaun; they're likely to have it topped with Amanitas – Muscaria, Death Caps, Destroying Angels, they're all like candy to a Leprechaun. That's why he peed so much when he first got here – trying to hide his heritage. His blood sugar was far too low, his blood chemistry out of whack, much like Muggle diabetes in reverse."

"Well, truth serum loose in a school can't be a _bad_ thing," Orion had to concede.

They got their answer soon enough, though, from Brian Bott, the Slytherin Prefect. The boy turned in a full batch of a perfect NEWT level Veritaserum potion, minus three drops, to Madame Iceni during a visit to Hospital to see the boys. In fact, he wasn't the only one, and Madame Pomfrey was soon forced to give up on trying to keep the well-wishers out.

"I will trust you on this one," the Potions Mistress told her student discretely, "Although it pains me to know that you think you might have to _use_ it on someone?"

"As Prefect, and senior member of Slytherin House, Madame, it's only logical that I be prepared to do what you – as a teacher – _cannot_ do. If I _have _to, that is," Bott justified it. "Frankly, Professor, I'm well off. Expulsion means nothing to me at this phase. What _does_ mean something to me is that someone with access to this school wants to kill those boys, and Merlin help him if _we_ find him! Greene Minor's so terrified that he can't get out of his brother's shadow, and while we don't mind having them, we can't keep the Ravenclaws forever, you know!"

"You're going after someone in _our_ House, aren't you?" She asked. "And this _isn't_ the first batch you've made?"

Bott nodded.

"How many so far?" She sighed.

"Twenty-two tested. Quincy is in love with you, Miss. Smith's gay, Peterson cheated on his Second Year Potions final, I've uncovered dozens of pranks, harmless, Robertson hoards pastries in his trunk, and..."

"Stop!" She held up her hands, "Quincy?! He's _thirteen_!"

"I'm sure it's just a crush, Miss," Bott blushed a bit.

"Cease and desist," she ordered him.

"You don't want to hear what Adams had to say?" Bott asked.

She paused. After a moment, she nodded.

"He thinks it's funny," Bott said softly, glancing at the boys, surrounded by their parents. "As Prefect, I'm ashamed of him, Professor. I want him _gone_. We've had a Prefects' meeting with the Head Boy and Girl, and we've all agreed. That's why I slipped some of the first brew of Veritaserum to him _first_. He's a liar, cheat, bigot, bully, conceited, arrogant..."

"I get the idea," Madame Iceni sighed, "Every now and then, you find a bad egg, as Magnus would say."

"I miss him," Bott admitted. "Those biscuits he makes are worth losing the House Cup over in points!"

"Tell _me_," she agreed, "I've gained five pounds since he got here!" She glanced over at the Hufflepuffs as well. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

"B-but, Miss MacMillan is with him now?" Bott fumbled.

Madame Iceni smiled. "Go and talk to _them_, then!"

For the next few weeks, the boys laid low. Madame Pomfrey was reluctant to discharge them, especially Rónán, but they were finally carried back to the Cellar where they could catch up their studies in peace, along with some private tutoring. It was nearly December first, and nearing the next full moon, when they finally felt up to making something again. Connor and Lucas, however, remained in Hospital. Madame Iceni had her suspicions as to why, but no one mentioned it. Still, with a bit of help from Sonny and his friends, Common Rooms were soon awash in cream-filled Fairy Cakes again.

While the boys were laying low, it didn't take long for the school to acclimate to the increased security. As soon as he was well enough, Teddy Potter joined them, and soon became very popular with the students. For some odd reason, the idea of having a very angry, self-aware werewolf patrolling the grounds at night made everyone feel safer. The Centaurs even mobilized, although no one ever saw them, blending into the greenery perfectly.

Without anyone really realizing it, Hogwarts had indeed come under siege again.

The next full moon came, and both Rónán and Magnus changed. While Rónán was ready for it, the one requisite 'hard change' knocked Magnus down badly. This upset Rónán terribly,_ and _Hagrid, who stayed up all night with the small wolves. Despite both Teddys assurances to the Goves that he wouldn't have to endure a 'hard change' again, it was little comfort. Mrs. Gove ended up in Hospital, and Mr. Gove was treated for shock upon seeing his son's horrific transformation. Magnus' dog Blackie, however, brought in by Hannah, was delighted.

Two days later, Aidan Adams was formally expelled.

Everyone watched him go, dragging his trunk behind him down the way in the snow towards the front gates to meet his parents.

"Leave it to Addie to ruin the first snow of the year," Rigel snorted, running a hand through his thick, coppery hair. He's been hard at all of his 'bad habits', and was again looking like the picture of health – for a Leprechaun.

"I don't think I'm up to sledding yet, guys," Rónán said, as this was their first day out of bed, and most of them honestly felt like going straight back to it.

"Where will he go?" Magnus asked.

"Probably Durmstrang," Erik guessed.

"He wanted to go there to start with," Connor offered.

"Well, I wish him all the best, and hope he's happy!" Rigel declared. "Don' go 'way mad, jus' go away!" He laughed.

They watched as Adams boarded a coach with his parents, and drove off. The ex-Slytherin never even looked back.

Magnus sighed.

"It's not like you didn't _try_, Mag," Ewan comforted him, "I guess there's some things even _dessert_ can't fix."

"Dessert!" Magnus snapped his fingers, grabbing Rigel's sleeve. "Let's go over all this again, mate! Are you feeling _lucky _enough to write a letter?"

"Fetch your owl!" Rigel grinned at him.

Back in the Cellar, the boys and their friends all met in the Common Room to discuss their plans.

"You want to write a letter to the Leprechaun King?" Connor gasped.

"Oh, we love getting mail,_ and_ presents," Rigel informed them. "And he's my grandfather, you know."

"Great-something, and you've never even _met_ him!" Aries reminded him.

"He'll love me," Rigel shrugged.

"HE might be the one trying to murder us," Magnus wondered.

"Doubtful," Lucas shook his head, "If he wanted to retire, and there's no one else to take the job, why murder the Heir?"

"Makes sense," Aaron nodded.

"Not bad for a human," Aries smiled at him, which was ironic, since his horse-half was hidden by a divan and he looked perfectly human at first glance. "You should send him a gift, too, with the letter. Something from us, something he'll appreciate?"

"What do Leprechauns like?" Greene Minor asked, still staring around the Hufflepuff chambers in fascination.

"Something funny, but something of value," Rigel wondered, "Goblin-crafted stuff is nice."

"A battle helmet?" Rhys suggested.

"Might convey the wrong idea," Garrett disagreed. "No weapons."

Then Rigel laughed. "I know! A gold letter opener! We can seal it up_ in_ the letter!"

"Leprechauns are _that _easily amused?" Aries wondered.

Rhys ran to get a butter knife, and set in to transfiguring it. As it was simply reshaping metal, it would hold forever. Rigel got a small bar of gold from his trunk, which Rhys incorporated into it as a shamrock on the handle. Then he ran his nails over it, sharpening it. The boys all cringed.

"Mount a nice citrine gem in it," Cedric suggested, "A nice yellow one!"

When they were finally done, Rigel set in to composing the letter:

"Dear King Deoradhán, … think I should just put 'Grandfather'?" Rigel asked.

"NO!" They all snapped.

They worked on the letter all afternoon, which was, pretty much, buttering up the King and telling him how great he was and asking that he come for cake. Rigel closed it with 'your grandson, Rigel Ossian Malfoy."

"Now, can you get Auguste into the Realm?" Magnus asked.

"No problem," Rigel assured them, as they were surprised to see it was evening already when Sonny opened the bay doors. Auguste sat on Rigel's shoulder, then they both seemed to phase a bit. Bits and pieces of them vanished, returned, and others vanished. Then they both vanished! Rigel returned alone in a second.

"Pity, it's nice and sunny and warm in the Realm," he lamented. Then he swooned a bit. "I think I'll take dinner in bed," he rubbed his head. "That kinda hurt."

"You think he'll come?!" Wilson gasped. "Here?!"

"Sure he will! No self-respecting Leprechaun will pass up free COG cakes and beer!" Magnus smiled. "Will he?"

"He'll come," Rigel mumbled, stumbling off towards their room.

"I don't feel so good either," Rónán complained. "You guys tell Uncle Teddy I'm going back ter bed?"

"You want anything?" Magnus asked.

"A raw Porterhouse steak would be good," Rónán smiled, and Magnus had to agree.

They ate in the Common Room, parents included, and no one was surprised to see Magnus eating his meat raw. In fact, it was very fresh. "I say, son, I think Madame Pomfrey could probably get that old cow back on her feet again, what?" He laughed. "You know, these sprouts are excellent!"

"Who do you think taught us hows to cooks it?" Sonny smiled, dashing about the kitchen, "We was boiling them, but Mags says to steam them with seas salts and trim the little stemses off! And butters, fresh butters, and coarse black pepperses!"

"They are just excellent," Mr. Lawrence commented, and from a Faun, that was a high compliment.

"So how long are we in residence?" Mrs. Alcott asked, running a hand over her son's thick, blue-black hair. "You could use a swim, young man," she added.

"I just wanna go back ter bed," Garrett whined.

"You _need_ to have some good raw fish, and a week in the North Sea," his father reminded him. "But I suppose we can settle for a bathtub and canned sardines? And you," he pointed at Sonny, "Look at _him_! There's hardly any fat on him! He'll freeze!"

"Daaaaad," Garrett whined, but the other parents all understood.

"Is there anything you need, child?" Mrs. Gove asked Rhys, having taken the orphaned boy in hand. Rhys yawned, which was a startling sight.

"No, Ma'am, thank you," He said softly, leaning on her shoulder and closing his luminous eyes.

"He's just adorable," she whispered, "And so are you, son!"

"Mum!" Magnus gasped in embarrassment.

"Probably the fangs," Aaron reminded him, and Magnus covered his mouth.

After Mr. Gove's dessert of cherries jubilee, which was the high point of the night, the little inter-house dinner party broke up as the boys turned in early. As Blackie the shepherd joined his boy in bed, Magnus wondered when King Deoradhán would write back.

He just hoped that the Leprechaun King wasn't offended.

Surprisingly, the boys got their answer the very next day! Auguste returned at breakfast with a green envelope, which got everyone's attention. Just like a Howler, the green envelope floated in front of Rigel and stuck its tongue out at him. "Good luck a'gettin' ME open!" It teased him, before falling into his syrup-drenched porridge.

"Go n-osclaí sibh, le do thoil!" Rigel asked it.

"What did you say?" Ewan asked anxiously.

"I asked it to open up, please," Rigel shrugged, as the letter opened its flap and laughed at him. Rigel pulled out a very nice piece of parchment and blinked at it a few times. The boys gathered 'round.

"Aw, it's written in Leprechaun_ese_!" Ewan groaned.

"It's ancient Gaelic, actually," Aries peeked at it. "Makes sense to me."

"Well, wha's it say, then?" Magnus asked.

Rigel scanned the letter, alternating from frowning to smiling.

"You can read that?" Connor wondered.

"'course I can," Rigel replied, without looking up. "It says he'll come 'round midnight, maybe a minute to, on the fourteenth.

"Day before holiday break!" Sebastian pointed out.

"So what else does he say?" Rónán asked, clearly awed.

"Some of it's personal," Rigel replied, blushing a bit, "But he's amused at how to get in!"

"He _should_ be!" The Twins laughed.

"Says he's looking forward to meeting us and having a scoff. He thinks it's a 'novel idea'," Rigel said, "Of course, he wouldn't pass up a good homemade cake, you know." Then he snorted, "_And_ he wants to discuss the Succession!"

"Which gives us a few days to study up and try and get you out of it," Lucas reminded him. "I'm sure there's a way."

"Well, there is _one_ surefire way," Aries commented, as he finished off his fruit plate.

"What's that?" Rónán asked.

"Geld him," Aries shrugged, "A simple Vanishing Spell should do it."

They all just stared at him in disbelief. Rónán got up and left, still limping a little.

"Erm, _**no!**_" Rigel shuddered.

"I think we'd better get to those family records and get some DNA tests," Magnus suggested.

"Good idea, after class," Harry informed them, nodding to Rigel, who was looking strangely at the letter.

"GET DOWN!" Rigel then shouted, and the boys dived under the table.

The letter exploded in a puff of smoke, emitting a shower of confetti and golden coins that vanished when they hit the floor. As it all vanished, the Hall filled with exuberant laughter. "Made ya duck!" A voice snickered.

"Typical," Harry rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just rent a billboard?" He snapped at Rigel.

"No one's gonna notice, remember?" Rigel reminded him, "Luck an' all?"

Harry sighed and stalked off.

"Could be a long day," Rhys predicted. "You gonna finish that porridge?" He asked Rigel.

It was indeed a long day. Classes seemed to drag on, and the boys spent their evening moaning about end of term homework and prepping for finals. When the dishes were finally done, and the Hall cleaned, they dove headlong into Rigel's family history.

"OK, for starters," Magnus asked, "Leprechauns have two sex chromosomes, right?" He glanced up from the very overdue book on magical genetics that Rigel had borrowed from the Library, and made a mental note to bribe Madame Hicks off with a Spotted Dick in custard.

"Yes, they do," Sebastian confirmed, his nose stuck in **Leapin' Leprechauns**. "Just like humans, an X from the mother, and an X or Y from the father."

"We can rule out the Malfoys, then," Aries observed, "As Rigel is a boy."

"Still," Rónán shivered, "What _**is**_ it with your people and the n-word?!"

Aries shrugged. "Population control, as well a matter of custom and deep personal beliefs. One must never trample on the customs of other races," he said seriously. "I am sorry it it bothers you, but it _is_ an option."

"No, it's NOT! Trust me!" Rigel assured him, "No offense. I'm sure your herd has some very nice geldings," He added quickly, "But Leprechauns don't observe _that_ custom. They much prefer pranking, for one."

"I understand," Aries grinned, "But when a race is so very long-lived, one has to wonder that they never adopted the practice, and still have so many offspring?"

"The Realm is boundless, almost," Rigel reminded him, "In fact, it's as big as the Earth is, only in another dimension, so it's not like we'll overpopulate it."

"OK, Rigel's Y-gene came from Professor Malfoy, Orion on the chart, and that came from his daddy, Scorpius," Rónán read aloud from the album, "From there, it was Draco Malfoy, then Lucius, then Abraxas, so that's all human."

"Pureblood old wizards," Rigel sighed, "No offense," he offered to Ewan, "They used to be fanatical about that. Grandfather Lucius would probably _hate_ me, if he was still around."

"No one could hate someone so cute!" Miss MacMillan put in, as she came in to check on them. "Are you OK, Rónán?" She ruffled his hair, offering them some Every Flavor Beans.

"Yes, Miss, thank you," Rónán rolled his eyes after she left.

"What's with her?" The boys all asked.

"She's been all-over weepy around me ever since we got hurt," Rónán explained, "I swear, between her and Sonny, I'm going mad! I'm just a bit sore is all!"

"You shouldn't still be sore," Magnus told him.

"I know," Rónán conceded, "Can we get on with it?"

"She's seeing Bott, you know," Sebastian said in a dreamy tone.

"Turn it off, Precious, and let's study my X gene," Rigel suggested, pulling a face.

"That came from your mum," Ewan said, "And she's a half-blood too?"

"Yes," Rigel agreed, making a note on his family tree copy. He had himself listed as "Xy", with the 'y' being a lowercase black letter. "The book says her X genes, since girls have two of those, are one Leprechaun gene, and one human gene." He wrote down a capital L in red and a lowercase x in black. "So, being a half-blood Leprechaun, I have to have her Leprechaun gene for my x." He wrote down a red L, making himself an "L-y".

"So your little brother, Aldebaran, got her human X gene, and he's fully human?" Rónán asked. Rigel nodded. "And Helene?"

"Is fat," Rigel retorted with a grin, "But no, human too."

"Right then, on to Mrs. Niamh Malfoy's parents," Aries noted, "Says here, her mother is fully human, and her father is a pure-blood Leprechaun?"

"Right," Rigel agreed, "So we don't care about Gran's genes, let's go for Grandfather MacPherson's genes."

"The red L came from him, then, since your mum's mum has two human x's," Ewan seemed to struggle with it, "This is harder than history," he grumbled, "And you don't care about his y, right? So Grandfather Mac has the same L that you and your mum do."

"Brilliant," Rónán agreed.

"So," Magnus decided, "That red L gene had to come from the old man's mum, then. What about her?"

"Pureblood Leprechaun," Rigel pointed it out, "Could be either of her folks."

They had the chart made up with Rigel being a red L-black y. His mum was a red L-black x. Her mum was 'xx', which wasn't relevant, as she was human. Her father was listed as red L-green y, Grandfather MacPherson. Things got complicated, though, with Great-Gran MacPherson, who had two more X genes that were pure-blood Leprechaun.

"What a mess," Aries sighed. "Is there a test that Madame Pomfrey can do to analyse your X gene, and compare it to the King's? We know you do not have his y gene."

"_**Yes**_!" Rigel gasped, "That'd _really_ simplify it!"

"Yeah, seeing as how we've got L's in red, green, and yellow now," Ewan sighed, "Grandfather MacPherson's folks _really_ complicated things."

"Be glad my folks waited so many years to have kids," Rigel laughed. "I still can't believe none of my hundred uncles and cousins want the job, though?"

"Gelding," Aries mumbled with a shrug, "would have cut that number down."

"NOT funny!" Rónán reminded him. "I'm sorry, Aries, custom or not, it freaks a canine out!"

"All right, then," Magnus spoke up, changing the subject, "We'll ask King Deoradhán if we can test him, then compare Rigel's DNA. That will tell us if he can be the Heir or not. I'm sure he'll help us."

"'course he will, after the cake, and after we get him drunk!" Rigel laughed. "Then we can put all of this behind us!"

"And maybe _he_ knows who wants ter kill us!" Ewan put in.

"Oh, yeah, forgot about _that_," Rigel groaned.

**Notes**:

wiki/Ergot – about ergot fungus

easy to copy words:

Rónán

King Deoradhán

Bär

Alistair Wilson – RC1 + Jeremy? + Rhys and Garrett

Taryn – Humphreys' brother, Welsh, RC6, organist

Eachan – Celtic word, "little horse"

Deartháir – Gaelic for 'brother'

King Deoradhán

MacMillan should be 'Macmillan', but who cares?

Ambasadóir – Gaelic for 'ambassador'

Mamaí – Gaelic for 'mom'

Khaavolaar – Goblin profanity

"Honorary Hufflepuff – Hard Work/Best Friends"

Greene Minor – RC1 (Jeremy)

Green Major – S7 (Jeffrey)

Siblings at the same boarding schools are generally referred to as "major" and "minor" in favor of their names.

black kyloe coos – Scottish highland cattle


End file.
